No Plans to Close Maynooth, Archbishop Confirms, Scottish Catholic Observer, March 31, 2011

No Plans to Close Maynooth, Archbishop Confirms

Scottish Catholic Observer
March 31, 2011

http://www.sconews.co.uk/news/7900/no-plans-to-close-maynooth-archbishop-confirms/

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the apostolic visitor for Irish seminaries, has confirmed that there has been no 'recommendation' made to Rome to close Maynooth College.

"Our report to the Holy See is still not even complete," Archbishop Dolan said in a statement released Tuesday by the Irish Episcopal Conference. "The sole mandate of the apostolic visitation is to review the seminaries to ensure they are responding properly to the present-day needs of the Church"

This follows media reports last week claiming that Maynooth College, Co. Kildare would be forced to close over concerns about academic standards and falling numbers of seminarians and teaching staff.

Maynooth college (above) was established in 1795 and is the largest seminary in Ireland, currently holding 72 student priests and providing academic formation for members of religious orders and lay students.