IRELAND
Irish Mirror
BY ALANA FEARON
Ageing priests and a plummeting number of practising Catholics have left the Church facing an unprecedented crisis
Catholic churches may be shut down completely as a chronic lack of priests and falling attendance sees Masses cancelled.
The situation nationwide is already so critical that weekday services have been cancelled and Sunday Masses in many places are only held every second weekend.
Ageing priests, a lack of young seminarians and a plummeting number of practising Catholics have left the Church facing an unprecedented crisis.
The institution in America has dealt with the same turmoil by shutting churches and clustering whole parishes.
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