The Bishop of Limerick says he can no longer guarantee Mass will be celebrated in every parish every Sunday, due to a shortage of priests.
Bishop Brendan Leahy has written to parishioners explaining a new form of 'lay leadership', which would see ordinary members of the community take on more responsibility, such as saying prayers at funerals.
Parish priest in Fethard, County Tipperary, Fr Iggy O'Donovan, says it's due to an ageing priesthood:
"The Catholic Church in Ireland is facing a demographic nightmare tsunami. I don't want to sound exaggerated there, but we're literally in the last chance saloon if you like, in that most of us are old age pensioners and sadly that says only one thing is going in one direction."
