Chai Brady
EXCLUSIVE
Priests in Dublin have expressed fears that the diocese may soon run out of money to pay their modest salaries due to a huge shortfall in collections The Irish Catholic can reveal. This comes on top of a 25% cut in pay back in May in a bid to plug the financial hole exacerbated by the pandemic and suspension of public Masses.
Several Dublin-based clerics said they were concerned by figures which showed that funds were depleting at a rapid rate with donations not matching what was being spent.
Figures seen by The Irish Catholic show that in the six-month period from mid-March to mid-September donations to the ‘common fund’ had fallen by 68% from €4,660,893 for the same period last year compared to just €1,497,196 for this year.
The Irish Catholic understands that by January, there is expected to be just enough money to cover two months of costs including priests’ pay, but the situation will be much worse if public Masses are not restored in early December as hinted at by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
When it comes to the ‘Share’ collection – which is used to support parishes that are struggling financially and support diocesan administration – the picture is worse. Last year, in the period from Mid-March to mid-September parishioners donated €3,043,920 to this collection. Figures for the same period this year show that just €757,195 has been raised – a dramatic drop of 75%.
One Dublin parish priest told The Irish Catholic that he and colleagues are reluctant to raise concerns “because we know that so many people are suffering financially.
“But, at the same time our pay is modest, and we are fine with that – but it does mean that most priests live month-to-month and have no savings to reply on,” he said.
Another priest said that he knew that confrères were concerned about having to ask their own families for support. “Many of them are struggling to make their own ends meet,” he said. “The last thing they need is having to support someone else,” he said.
Yet another Dublin priest who spoke to this newspaper said that “many parishioners have continued to make their regular donation, but many have not. When Mass does start again [in early December] many lads [priests] will be reluctant to raise the issue because they’ll just be so glad to see people back and will not want to burden people who may have lost income themselves,” he said.
However, he said that the figures “speak for themselves” and “it makes for a very grim financial future is there will only be enough money in January to cover two months,” he said.
In the six-month period covered, just 9% (€139,412) came via online donations. Just 20% of this came via the diocesan website with the remaining 80% coming from donations made via 79 parish websites.
Curates in the Dublin Diocese are currently paid €17,250 per year. The 2009 recession also saw priests take a 20% cut in their income which has never been restored.