A shortage of priests has seen families facing a wait of up to a fortnight before they can bury their loved ones.
Mounting pressure on parishes – with many now down to just one serving cleric – means some grieving relatives are turning to funeral directors to conduct services.
Stephen Murphy, of Jennings Funeral Directors, said more people are holding ceremonies in funeral homes as fewer priests means a longer wait for a church Mass.
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He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “In the past you may have had two or three priests in a particular parish, the likelihood now is that there is only one.
“They can only accommodate one [funeral] per day, excluding Sundays, and they also get a day off during the week which they are entitled to.
“We are quite limited in regards to availability in the church.
“A parish priest must be available for a funeral on a particular day. They conduct the funeral service in the church, they travel to the cemetery or crematorium to do the prayers, which takes a couple of hours, so their availability from early morning to afternoon is limited.
“Without two priests you certainly couldn’t accommodate two funerals.
“Civil ceremonies and humanist ceremonies are becoming more popular and account for 50% of the services. At the moment we can accommodate five of what we call reposals, where five bodies would repose at any one time.” Irish Catholic Bishops Conference figures show only 10 students began studies for the priesthood for Irish dioceses last year, with 56 seminarians currently studying for the priesthood.
According to the Catholic Communications Office, fewer people are joining the priesthood here in Ireland.
Spokeswoman Lisa Sheridan said: “It has been the case for over 30 years that the age profile of priests has been getting older and relatively fewer are being ordained.”
Archbishop of Tuam Francis Duffy said dwindling priest numbers and the resulting merged parishes has meant masses had to be reduced.
He said: “Already several churches have weekday Masses and no Sunday Mass.
“In some parishes, when the priest is unavoidably absent during the week, parishioners hold a prayer service in their church; this may need to be extended to weekends where necessary.”
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