African pastor fills the void in Italy's rural churches

The Rev. Vincent Souly, a Catholic priest from the Ivory Coast, has become a fixture in rural Italian parishes, filling a void left by a scarcity of home-grown clergy, the New York Times reported. His story illustrates how immigrants, long relied upon to ease labor shortages on farms and factories, are also sustaining the Church in Italy's emptying interior.

Italy's population is the oldest in the European Union, France 24 reported this month, and the shortage of priests is most acute in rural areas where young people have emigrated and congregations have aged. Foreign-born priests like Souly are stepping into parishes that would otherwise close or go without regular services.

The New York Times reported that churches, like farms and factories, now depend on immigrant labor to keep functioning. Souly's presence in a rural parish is a practical answer to a demographic problem that has no easy domestic solution.