As a general rule, priests in a parish are not local men, but rather from somewhere else (usually within the Diocese.) They do, however, become very much a part of the local community after a fairly short while, and their terms in a parish are often quite long.
My local Parish Priest recently arrived, but the older man he was replacing as Parish Priest stayed on as a Curate, and has been with us here for about ten years. Most parishes would still have more than one priest, even if most of them are approaching (or past) retirement age. As part of settling in a new arrival will usually try to learn the histories and the personalities of the parish. It helps them integrate and become a part of the community This is even more prevalent in country parishes, especially among the older people who would even still consider the priest(s) of the parish a focal point of the community, even as younger people look further afield. Hope that's some more useful info, OisÃn On 09/01/07, Anton Sweeney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Are priests local, or does the church move them far > > from their old home? > > > > I think Diocesan priests get moved around at the whim (or necessity) > of the local Bishop. So a priest would likely be from *somewhere* in > Galway/the west. But priests can also be "loaned" to other dioceses, > I think, so he could theoretically be from anywhere. > > A. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
