Becoming a priest or religious in our diocese is a special vocation, one we hold dear. We want to look after every applicant the best we can and to help, in any way possible,  in their discernment and journey of faith. 

Maybe diocesan priesthood or religious life is for you? If your interest is religious life please visit http://www.elphindiocese.ie/voc_links.htm
If it is diocesan priesthood please continue to read. 

Here is one priest’s description of his ministry / experience.

‘…the parish becomes quite simply his community, in so far as he has one.   He is at home around the streets, in the school at lunchtime, driving down to the hospital in the early morning to anoint a parishioner, spending the evening with the parish council, and he moves easily in all these environments, as by right, never reflecting that he is not just a GP but a specialist in the area of priestly ministry ... . We do not even look like specialists. Diocesan priests are not always the peak of sartorial elegance. They wear baggy corduroys and shapeless anoraks and scuffed shoes, and this insouciance can hide a ferocious intelligence and a deep fund of wisdom about human strengths and weaknesses and a huge love for the gospel.
- Tony Philpot The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest, The Furrow,
                        July/August 2002.

Could this be you (minus the corduroys)?

Being a diocesan priest was brought home to me two years ago when I visited some homes in a housing estate in our parish. Going door-to-door, introducing myself to people as the new curate, one young man said, ‘You put a face on the Catholic Church’. 

Could you put a face on the Church that we love?

A call to diocesan priesthood is a call to the prayer and the mission of Church in very ordinary and sometimes very humble circumstances. When people are attracted to Catholicism they do so often because of the down-to-earth ordinariness of the Catholic Church. It is a call to bloom where you are planted, to be with people where they are. Diocesan priests are called to identify themselves with the personal style of Jesus Christ. Serving the poor, the sick, the neglected, helping a parish community develop their life around the concerns and joys of the gospel.

Here in Elphin we have a sense of belonging, a sense of intimacy with the people, a concern for their concerns and a great faith in God who can do all things. These are our roots. Could you be a diocesan priest along with us?

I invite you to come and see.

Fr. Jim Murray

Fr. John Coughlan

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Fr. Jim Murray
Vocations Director (Diocese of Elphin)
Carraroe - Sligo
Tel: 071 9162136.

Fr. John Coughlan

Deerpark Rd, Athlone

Tel: 090 6490575

Copyright © 2004 Diocese of Elphin, Ireland.