Irish Catholic priests call for helpline as suicide rate among clergy surges

Catholic priests in Ireland are calling for a confidential helpline following reports of a surge in suicides among members of the clergy.

Recent reports given at meetings of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) have indicated that at least eight Irish priests have committed suicide in the past 10 years.

Many priests are voicing out their concerns over a severe dip in morale and mental health crisis among the clergy in Ireland.

"Our morale is affected because we are on a sinking ship. When will the 'counter-reformation' take place? We're like an All-Ireland team without a goalie. We need a national confidential priests' helpline. We're slow to look for help," an attendee at a recent ACP meeting said.

The issue has been raised by the 1,000-member clerical group in at least three separate meetings in the past few months, according to Catholic News Agency.

Fr. Roy Donovan, a spokesman for the ACP, told Irish Central in May that more elderly churchmen may be suffering in silence and do not know where to find help.

"We know that some priests with mental health issues have found support by attending GROW groups, but I think there are a lot of priests out there who either won't or don't know where to get help," he said at the time.

"So the hope is that there'll be more regional ACP meetings, which should help us address the problem better by reaching out to more priests," he added.

The number of priests in Ireland has dropped significantly over the past decade. In 2004, there were more than 3,100 priests in the country, but by 2014, the last year data is available, the number had been reduced to 2,627, though the number of active priests may be closer to just 1,900.

The shortage of priests has led to clustering, a phenomenon where several parishes are combined into one due to lack of leadership. The phenomenon results in the increase in priests' workload and subsequent stress, forcing many to work well beyond retirement years because of the lack of new vocations.

Additionally, the Catholic Church, beginning in the 1990s, was rocked by sex abuse scandals that led to a massive decline in the priesthood as well as in the faith of the laypeople.

During one of the meetings, the priests pointed to the negative press regarding the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, where mass graves of babies and children were found.

The priests stated that the nuns did a "disservice" by not clarifying exactly what happened at the home.

"They need to do so immediately. It makes our job impossible, especially as we face a storm on abortion next year," they said, referring to the ongoing debate whether to legalize abortion in Ireland.

The priests urged the Church to hire a media person who could speak clearly for the clergy and bishops in times of crisis. They also acknowledged that they need to be more vocal about asking for help when they need it.