The Bishop of Limerick has undertaken a financial review in his diocese and is to meet with diocesan consultative bodies early in the new year to discuss the Covid pandemic’s financial cost.
Speaking to The Tablet, Bishop Brendan Leahy said income was down between 50-60 per cent which would affect central funding in the diocese as some operations were dependent on parish contributions.
“We have had to waive that payment this year to a large extent and dig into some reserves, but we couldn’t sustain that for long.”
He said the focus of the review would be on generating income through online donations and contactless payments rather than cutting costs.
While income for the day to day maintenance of churches has been substantially hit, he revealed that donated income for priests in Limerick diocese did not fall as much as might have been expected.
“I was surprised that it held up. Many people were sensitive to priests’ income and so made a special effort to contribute Easter and Christmas dues. So in many places – though not everywhere – priests’ income held. I took this as a sign of people’s esteem for local priests.”
He said church charities such as the St Vincent de Paul and Trócaire had also been hit though many people had made an extra effort to contribute to them.
The financial situation in Limerick was mirrored in the Archdiocese of Armagh, where at the close of 2020, Archbishop Eamon Martin said the financial impact of the Covid crisis had been “absolutely massive”.
“I would be extremely surprised if any diocese in the country or any church has not been hugely impacted by the fall off in donations due to Covid-19 restrictions,” Archbishop Eamon Martin told the Tablet.
He estimated the drop in income in parishes north and south of the border to be somewhere between a third and a half on average, with some experiencing an even greater decline.
“We’re very aware that all of our parishioners themselves are impacted by the pandemic; many have lost their jobs or have been furloughed or have had salary cuts. For that reason, asking people to help us has been somewhat tempered. We are not going out there making very strong requests for donations.”
The Church, he explained, has urged people to support its charitable outreaches such as the St Vincent de Paul Society and Trócaire because “they are at the frontline trying to help people who are the pinch of the crisis most”.
Nevertheless, he said he was well aware that priests have seen stipends for baptisms and marriages “evaporate” and consequently are experiencing “a substantial reduction in their income”.
Income from weekly envelopes and lose plate donations on Sundays have also dried up with no public worship and so many dioceses and parishes are trying to promote online donations.
Though some dioceses have been helped by the government schemes north and south in terms of furloughing of staff, the Church has been forced to draw on reserve funding for emergencies because there are still major outgoings to be covered every month, such as heating and insurance, which Archbishop Martin described as a massive cost. “The insurance doesn’t go down because the church doors are closed,” he said.
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