Catholic Herald Correspondents HE critical shortage of priests and lack of vocations in the Cardiff and Menevia dioceses which cover the whole of Wales have been spotlighted this week both by Archbishop Murphy of Cardiff, and Bishop Petit of Menevia.
Sermons on the subject of vocations were preached throughout the Cardiff Archdiocese last Sunday at the request of the Archbishop. It was announced that Ascension Day (yesterday) was to he a special day of prayer for an increase in the number of students for the priesthood.
1 here arc nineteen priests working in South Wales who are on temporary loan from other dioceses. They are liable to be recalled at very short notice and should this happen the problem of staffing the parishes might become critical.
School visits
In Menevia, where three new priests are to he ordained this year, Bishop Petit has appointed a group of priests to visit schools of the diocese to explain to boys and girls the meaning of a life dedicated to the servise of God and the Church.
Today there arc 39 religious communities of women -active and contemplative in the diocese. Probably the best known are the enclosed Benedictine nuns of Talacre Abbey, near Prestatyn. They were formerly Anglicans and were received corporately into the Church just 50 years ago.
Recently. the Sisters of St. Anne, of London. opened a convent at Eglwys Fitch, Machynlleth. Montgomeryshire. The sisters will act as catechists in the more remote areas and assist the Redemptorist Fathers of the Welsh Travelling Million.