SPECIAL REPORT: Diocese of Waterford and Lismore faces upheaval with church closures feared
The country finds itself facing a critical shortage, the consequences of which have been detrimental to the entire infrastructure of the church.
A country, forged in Catholicism, is facing a church crisis.
Ireland has a dire shortage of priests, mass attendances have plummeted and churches risk closure.
To secure the future, immediate and serious change is critical.
Amidst this, the Diocese of Waterford & Lismore is strategizing, hard at work to face up to the reality.
This special report from the Waterford News & Star explores the current position of the church locally.
Our interviews with key clergy members in the diocese have shone a light onto the pressing issues; the shortage of priests, an ageing clergy, dwindling mass attendances, potential closure of churches and the unexpected generation, who may provide the answers.
Once a leading exporter of priests to the world, Ireland now has far too few priests to maintain even its own parishes.
The country finds itself facing a critical shortage, the consequences of which have been detrimental to the entire infrastructure of the church.
In the past 30 years, the number of working priests nationally has halved to about 2,000.
This year, just 13 new seminarians began their priestly formation at Ireland’s national seminary for the catholic church, St. Patrick’s College.
There are currently 87 priests serving in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.
In Census 2022, almost 90,000 people in the county identified themselves as Catholic (71%), down from 81% in Census 2016.
There are an estimated 44,000 Catholic households in the diocese, with a total population of roughly 127,363.
This equates to roughly one priest per 1,464 people.
There are already a small number of parishes in the diocese that have no resident priest. The reasons for this scarcity vary.
Included are the broad secularization of society in the past decades, and the requirement of celibacy for priests.
Parish priest in St. Joseph St Benildus & St Mary's in Waterford city, Fr Liam Power, pointed to the limited opportunities for women as another contentious issue.
"The church is still seen to be patriarchal and anti-woman for some," he said.
Fr. Power worked in his youth as an engineer.
He was ordained in 1980, at a time when there were nearly 300 clerical students studying.
“I always felt that I should be a priest,” he said.
“When I was younger, I used to say that it wouldn’t be me to become a priest, but it just kept at me and so I decided to go prove to myself that I could do it. I eventually realised that this is really where I should be.”
There are approximately 17,000 people in Fr. Power’s parish, with around 1,000 people regularly attending mass, most for funerals, communions, and baptisms.
“There were four priests in this parish when the parish was half the size a few decades ago, now we have only one and a half priests here,” he said.
“You have to accept as a priest that there’s so many things you can’t reach on now. It’s very, very challenging.”
The workload amongst priests all over the country has massively increased, and the need for additional vocations has never been greater.
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, told the Waterford News & Star that there is no easy solution, however.
“I'm very conscious of the fact that we need to be working to promote the priesthood and get young vocations in, but it's not going to be easy.”
The latest priestly ordination in the diocese was only last week, when Dublin native Rev. Stuart McGovern was ordained in the Cathedral.
A positive, celebratory occasion for the diocese, but questions still remain over where additional priests can be pulled from.
“In recent years, there has been a small but steady number of men beginning their studies for priesthood in Irish dioceses,” Bishop Cullinan said.
“While this is encouraging, in no way should this trend make us complacent. We need more priests and we must continue to do what we can to promote priestly vocations in our parishes.
“I do believe that they're out there."
One way in which the diocese has been coping with the shortage is by turning towards the global priest population for reinforcement.
In the diocese currently, there are four Indian priests, three African priests, two Polish priests and one Croatian priest.
The arrival of these men has been strongly welcomed, and their work is paramount.
It doesn’t appear to be a long-term solution, however, as Ireland is not unique in its shortage.
“I think it’s a stop-gap thing for the moment,” Fr. Power said.
“There’s also a shortage of priests in Africa, for example, so for a priest from Africa to come here, I think it’s unfair for them.”
He added that not all who come to Ireland are able to navigate the cultural shift.
“Culturally, it is a huge transition for them.”
Numbers are needed, and quickly, as the average age of priests across the country remains high, hovering at around 70.
There is concern that priests may feel as if they are unable to retire due to a shortage of replacements.
This was demonstrated just last week in Waterford, when parish priest of Portlaw/ Ballyduff Fr Francis Xavier fell ill, resulting in a weekend mass being dropped and no weekday masses until he returns.
The Association of Catholic Priests noted with concern recently that many older priests, some well into their 70s and 80s, are being asked to take on increased responsibilities due to the ongoing decline in priest numbers.
Whilst many of these men continue to serve out of deep commitment and a profound sense of duty, the ACP warns: “We believe they may be taken advantage of.”
The official age of retirement for a priest is 75, however, most decide to carry on past that age.
In the diocese locally, we heard that most priests are happy to continue serving past retirement age, so long as they have a strong team around them to distribute the workload.
Resultingly, the role of laypeople is becoming increasingly vital.
New lay leadership roles and committees have been introduced across the diocese of late.
Parish pastoral councils, finance councils, and volunteer parish workers have been increased to handle daily operations, ensuring that when the parish phone rings, the church still answers faithfully.
The growing importance of laypeople has been emphasised strongly by the church locally.
“By developing the lay liturgies and the lay volunteers, you can at least get more of a reach,” Fr. Liam Power, Parish Priest in St Joseph and Benildus, said.
In his own parish, there is massive work being done by a range of ministry teams.
“This is a big development. There’s huge scope for lay ministry and sharing leadership with myself as the priest."
We have also seen in the past number of weeks the ordination of two deacons in the diocese, who can assist priests with weddings and funerals.
Crucially, they can also get married themselves, so long as they have married prior to being ordained.
Such reinforcement is critical, as parish churches across the county are begging for additional hands to ensure they remain open.
The role that churches play in local parishes cannot be overemphasised.
85 churches have sat serenely for centuries across Waterford from the city to the rural Comeragh area of the county, and further west into Dungarvan and Waterford’s Gaeltacht areas.
Parishioners care deeply about their church, and there are countless church committees across the county working on a voluntary basis to maintain and protect them.
“When you look around the diocese, you really see the beauty of the churches,” Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan said.
“In the cathedral in the city, we get so many tourists coming to see it, and why? Because they're just so beautiful. Our churches are absolute gems.”
The difficulty of maintaining churches, however, is overwhelming, and not helped by dwindling mass attendances.
“Attendance is quite low relative to the overall population of the parish," Fr Power said, "It wouldn’t even be 10% attending, and it's going way down. It’s a real challenge.”
While mass attendance is low, most households still value the church's role in hosting funerals, weddings and baptisms.
“Obviously most people don't go to mass, but by the same token, they do see the value of it, especially when somebody dies, or for community building,” Bishop Cullinan said.
Fr Power added a similar sentiment, saying: “I find that at funeral times, times of confirmation etc, there is that search for faith there. So people still have a faith within them that wants to be nurtured and expressed and celebrated at particular times.”
Fears around church closures are ever rising, and it is predicted that smaller churches in the diocese will close eventually.
Last year, a letter was circulated outlining that only six priests were covering 13 churches in the west of the county.
“Having a mass in each of our churches every week or every day is going to become increasingly difficult," the Bishop said.
“I certainly don't want to be closing churches and if a decision has to be made to close a church, it will always be in conjunction with the reality, and what the parishioners are doing to face that reality."
Meanwhile, Fr. Power also said that keeping churches open will become more and more challenging.
“We have a tiny amount of people attending mass, and smaller churches in the diocese might only have a handful of people at Sunday mass.
“We have to be realistic about this, if trends continue, there will inevitably have to be church closures.”
Churches, of course, suffer from massive overheads, and insuring a church in the diocese costs upwards of €8,000 annually.
A church cannot open unless insured.
Resultingly, parishioners will need to assume an increased responsibility in the financial upkeep of their churches.
Bishop Cullinan said: “We come to the church, maybe only periodically, and yet we expect the church to be insured, heated, lit and maintained. That has to be up to the parishes."
It will be a huge challenge for locals to gather the necessary resources, but parishioners will have to get together, fundraise, and take on additional responsibilities for maintaining their church, Fr Power added.
Parishes are taking active steps, and many have installed finance councils to oversee monetary aspects.
In Stradbally Church, for example, a trial tap payment device has been installed in recent weeks, where €5 or €10 phone donations can be made conveniently. Assuming that the tap machine is a success, it will be rolled to Faha and Ballylaneen churches in the future, a statement said.
In turn, it is subtly encouraging notes rather than coins to keep the waning coffers filled.
“Change is difficult for everyone, but there will have to be serious changes,” Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan strongly emphasised during our interview.
In a letter circulated earlier this year, he suggested options, such as reducing the number of masses, the closing of churches or amalgamating parishes.
Just last month, four Waterford parish communities amalgamated into one.
The aim of the new structure is to allow parishes to work closer together in day-to-day administration and liturgical collaboration.
It is predicted that this will happen more and more.
Another measure, which has been taken, is a new general rule that restricts the number of funerals that take place on Sundays.
The diocese held 1,176 funerals in 2024, and priests are struggling to keep up.
Priests have largely supported the ruling.
“I think it is a good ruling in light of the shortage of priests, because priests are under big pressure,” Fr. Liam Power, Parish Priest of St Joseph and Benildus, said.
“There's a lot of extra work in funerals, and if you have to do a mass directly before a funeral you’re not at your best and can't give your best to the people."
While some changes may be unsettling, they signal the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore's ongoing attempts to address the issues head on.
A huge amount of work is still needed, but within the church there are signs of hope.
Shortly before his death, Pope Francis declared 2025 the Jubilee Year of Hope.
A host of young people appear to becoming more enthused, and in their search for spiritual meaning, they are turning to the church for hope.
Polls suggest that both France and England are experiencing a Catholic resurgence, driven, surprisingly, by young people.
A recent Irish poll found that 18-24 year-olds (Gen Z) are somewhat more favourable towards religion and spirituality than those aged 25-35 (Millennials).
18-24 year-olds are more likely to read spiritual or religious books, watch spiritual or religious content and follow individuals on social media who discuss spirituality and religion.
“This is happening,” the Bishop said.
“The curve is beginning to go upwards. It's small, but it's happening. So I'm certainly very hopeful.”
He said that in recent times he has noticed a rising number of young people entering the front doors of the city's Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity Within, to say a prayer.
“They may not be going to mass, but they’re certainly praying and they're searching. They're looking for something real and true and authentic. I'm very hopeful about that. I can see great things for the future.”
Fr. Power corroborated recent poll findings, saying that "young adults are beginning to rediscover the faith that they abandoned".
“There are indications in various parts of the world this is actually happening. It’s not just a lowkey phenomenon or aberration.”
Is it happening on a scale which is significant enough to create real change, however?
Youth and Young Adult Ministry Officer for the diocese, Nodlaig Lillis, said that it is not so much about the numbers of young people who are joining, but more so the growing enthusiasm that is demonstrated from those who do.
She has seen firsthand that young people, particularly young men, are turning to the church locally and nationally.
“We’re far from the ideal numbers, but it is happening,” she said.
“I think in the church going forward we’re not talking about big numbers, we’re talking about smaller numbers of people but who are really invested and who are actively choosing to be there.
“Gen Z in particular are a very open generation and I don’t think they’re dealing with the anger and cynicism towards the church that might have been there in past decades.
“They are getting involved here and they’re choosing to be here themselves, which makes it more meaningful for them."
