A COMMITTEE of parishioners from Clonmany, Co Donegal, will meet their bishop tomorrow to ask him to rescind his decision to transfer their long-serving parish priest.
Father Joseph Morris, whoa is 68 and has been in the Inishowen parish as curate and parish priest for 32 years, was told last week by the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, that he was being moved to become parish priest of neighbouring Culdaff.
Last Friday parishioners held a large rally in Clonmany. Locals said it was attended by 2,000 people out of a total parish population of 2,500.
On Monday an eight-member committee handed in a 2,500-signature petition to Bishop Hegarty asking that Father Morris he allowed to stay.
In a statement the committee said it was mounting the campaign to retain a "much revered and beloved parish priest" because of his "selfless and untiring devotion to his people".
Yesterday the committee's public relations officer, Mr Hugo Boyce, emphasised that this was "a matter between the people and the bishop. The priest will go where he's told, but the people won't accept him being moved."
He said there was growing anger in the parish and over 50 people had walked out of Mass in Clonmany on Sunday.
He said the transfer did not make sense, since Father Morris had only another six or seven years before retirement and the new parish priest, Father John Farrell, is also in his 60s. Father Farrell is due to be installed at Clonmany by Bishop Hegarty on Saturday.
He also warned that the £1 million plan to refurbish the parish's three churches and other buildings could be jeopardised if Father Morris was moved. He said Clonmany was, for its size, the "best-paying parish in the diocese". But he estimated that two-thirds of people would stop contributing to the building fund.
Neither of the two Derry bishops nor the diocesan secretary was available for comment yesterday, and its director of communications said he had just returned from holiday and knew nothing about the matter.
However, the diocesan secretary, Father Kevin McElhennon, told local journalists on Monday night that Bishop Hegarty still intended to transfer Father Morris to the new parish.