Will the Year of Prayer for Vocations solve Ireland’s priesthood crisis? Don’t hold your breath, says Father Michael Collins.

I rather felt my age the other day. Not because I had just celebrated my birthday, but because I had to have a document signed by a policeman. I was quite surprised to learn  how young he was, not long into his 20s, and fully fledged.

It struck me that, unless on a trip to Rome, I rarely come across young priests nowadays. When I graduated from Holy Cross College, the seminary for Dublin, in 1985, about a dozen priests were ordained each year. Today the seminary is closed, the buildings sold and the present Archbishop of Dublin is resigned to the fact that he will not ordain a priest for the diocese prior to his retirement in seven or eight year’s time. While the search for vocations to the priesthood continues, the results are disheartening.