‘Church needs better standards to attract right candidates for priesthood’

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
26/08/2016

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said the Catholic Church in Ireland needs to introduce better admission standards for trainee priests to attract the right candidates for priesthood.

Acknowledging that the national seminary in Maynooth “has to change”, Dr Martin, who is a trustee of the college, told RTÉ’s ‘Morning Ireland’: “Maynooth is not to be condemned but it is not to be canonised either.”

He said there was a “recognition of the problems” facing Maynooth among the trustees and that the seminary has to change, “not just because of current allegations but because of the fact that we are living in a different world”.

Referring to the trustees’ statement on Wednesday outlining a series of changes on seminary formation, the Archbishop said there was a need for new ways of identifying, screening and training candidates.

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