Lack of priests leads to cancellation of Fahan vigil mass

The lack of priests in the Diocese of Derry has led to Buncrana parish priest Fr Francis Bradley taking the decision to stop Saturday evening mass at St Mura’s Church in Fahan.

Fr Bradley said the regrettable decision wasn't a reflection on parishioners, who have always turned out in great numbers, but was “simply because the heart of the priesthood is not able to serve any more than we can, especially with other changes coming down the road.”

From this Saturday, July 5, the vigil mass will take place at 6:30pm in St Aengus' Church in Burt instead of in Fahan.

Speaking to parishioners at the last vigil mass in Fahan, Fr Bradley said he was disappointed the decision had to be taken but with more changes expected to take place in the diocese in the coming months, the parish priest hopes that parishioners will understand the reasoning behind the decision. 

It is not because Fr Paddy Baker, CC, Fahan Parish, or Fr Bradley “wish to do less but because when everything is in place and when further changes affect both of us over the coming months, perhaps this will become more understandable.”

“I am disappointed in the end the decision had to be taken and it wasn’t the parish church [in Fahan] that retained the vigil mass.”

Fr Bradley added that with St Mura’s Church losing the vigil mass, he hopes it will now guarantee the parish church retaining mass on Sunday mornings, with further changes to come “because that's what the cold choices will have to be.”

Choosing to stop masses is not an area of the priesthood that he particularly embraces and he says: “I feel a little bit like a surgeon who has to decide what to amputate and when. It is not like this part of the parish has been cut off, but it’s a matter of grave disappointment to me that we have to discontinue this mass.”

Following the death of Fr Oliver Crilly in Castlefinn on Saturday, Bishop Donal McKeown has eight positions to fill in the Derry Diocese this year, after seven other priests had already left. A gap that will leave other priests trying to fill as the Bishop “has no one to fill those positions,” added Fr Bradley. 

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During July, the parishes of Buncrana, Burt, Inch, and Fahan will have only one priest for two weekends as Fr Bradley is away. An example, Fr Bradley says, of how stretched things are in the priesthood and “it just shows you where we are.”

A petition to stop the vigil mass being cancelled in Fahan was launched in recent weeks by several parishioners who are concerned about the lack of parking in Burt and a lower speed limit in Fahan compared to the road at St Aengus' Church in Burt, which they say is a safety hazard due to higher speeds for children and the elderly.

Since the announcement that the mass would discontinue, various alternatives have been proposed, such as the two vigil masses rotating on a weekly or monthly basis.  

Fr Bradley acknowledges the idea but notes: “The evidence throughout the country where that has been tried, the practice has been that people only attend every other week or month. Only when it is convenient and we are not a convenience store. We are a Church here to worship God.”

“I do apologise for the inconvenience this causes and don't wish to cause inconvenience to anyone, but it is the simple reality in which we live,” added Fr Bradley.