By Anthony Barich
National Reporter
RURAL parishes without a priest to celebrate Mass weekly need to organise themselves to gather regularly for prayer with the help of their diocese or they will fall apart, the Archdiocese of Hobart’s liturgy coordinator said.
Ahead of facilitating a workshop on lay liturgical leadership at the Bishops’ Commission for Liturgy national conference in Perth on 6 February, Cathy Murrowood told The Record that many rural dioceses around Australia are planning how to deal with a lack of priests to service their areas in coming years.
Tasmania has one deacon and 14 active diocesan priests, plus four from overseas and about 10 Religious to service 25 parishes, which are clusters of up to seven communities.
About 40 parishes were merged into 25 in the Archdiocese of Hobart a number of years ago. Priests often have pastoral associates where priests visit less than once a week.
In the first national conference where pastoral planning for priest shortages has been discussed in Australia, Ms Murrowood said that communities who come together and pray have a greater sense of identity and of God moving in them. In Hobart, the diocese is obligated to provide a priest to visit to celebrate Mass occasionally and the community comes together to pray every other Sunday, she said.
These communities need to come together on Sunday, she said, to “make the day holy and to give thanks to God”.
“If they don’t gather on Sunday, our experience is that communities that gather together only when they have Mass – which may be once every two months – are likely to eventually fail. The challenge is for communities to take responsibility for their area and community life, and for the diocese to support them in that,” she said.She acknowledged that life without regular sacraments can be difficult for Catholics, as “we’re a sacramental Church and a sacramental people. Mass is our usual expectation for Sunday”.
The problem is exacerbated by the common problem rural towns face – youth moving to the cities.
Thus, many parishioners are elderly and attending Mass proves difficult, especially in winter in Tasmania, where roads are often winding and steep, plus the added complication of wildlife crossing.
Catechesis, she said, is the key. Hobart Liturgy office representatives visit each community.