Message from Bishop

Pastoral planning is an ongoing process. Planning is necessary and will always be necessary in order to respond to the changes in the world around us. The past forty years have seen rapid and radical changes in Irish society. No one should be surprised that the Church has been affected by this.

As a diocese and as parishes, we are facing serious challenges and major changes. Already new configurations of parishes have been established as Pastoral Areas. Pastoral Councils have been set up at parish, pastoral area and diocesan level. The Permanent Diaconate has been introduced. It is very likely that this time next year some parishes in the diocese will be without a resident priest.

On December 9th 1995, a programme of renewal entitled Journeying Together in Hope was launched at a diocesan assembly. The Diocese of Kerry Pastoral Plan 2009 - 2013, which is in continuity with that programme, will be launched at our diocesan gathering on September 27th 2009. The plan articulates the vision, goals and priorities of our diocese and parishes for the coming years. A major thrust of the plan is lay participation. The Church is never fully alive without an active laity. It is no exaggeration to say that in the coming years the Church in Ireland will not survive without a committed and involved laity.

The Pastoral Plan is the outcome of a long process of consultation throughout the diocese. I want to thank all who contributed to what is a comprehensive plan for the renewal of our diocese and parishes. I want to thank the Diocesan Pastoral Council which discussed and commented on the Plan at every stage of its development. I want to say a very special ‘Thank You’ to the Pastoral Renewal Team. It is said that “many hands make light work”. Not so in this case. The team spent many hours consulting various groups, clerical and lay, and revising the text in the light of their observations. I also wish to convey my thanks to Ms. Susan Barrett for the research and expertise she brought to this planning process.

Creating the plan was a slow and challenging process. Implementation will also be slow and challenging. Maximum cooperation between priests and people will be required. The Vicars Forane, who are charged with promoting the process in their Pastoral Area, will have a vitally important role. I want to thank them for undertaking this responsible task.

Focal scoir: The goal of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan is not to change structures or to introduce new ones. No. The goal of the plan, and of the renewal that it will bring about, must be to build up the People of God in this diocese so that we will believe in our hearts, confess with our lips and show by our lives that Christ is our Hope.

+Bill Murphy
Bishop of Kerry