The Catholic Church in Dublin trials funding plan for parishes

The Archdiocese of Dublin is preparing to launch the next phase of its strategic funding plan through a pilot programme in select parish partnerships which will shape a new funding model and strengthen how parishes across the diocese are supported financially.

Over the course of a year, three pilot partnerships will be rolled out to allow the diocese to see how funds are raised and monies are collected. Feedback from the participating parish partnerships, the diocese said, will help it refine its activities to “ensure they are both effective and sustainable into the future”.

The diocesan strategic funding plan is a practical roadmap designed to support the journey of Dublin’s parish partnerships.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Dublin told The Tablet that this part of the diocesan strategic funding plan “is at an early stage. We are currently in an active phase of consultation with three pilot partnerships.”

This involves sounding out the Council of Priests, clergy and laity. “This listening phase is crucial, it allows us to understand lived parish realities, identify what is working well, learn where existing systems place undue pressure on clergy and parish communities,” the spokesman said.

“Our hope is to implement the pilot initiative in September, informed by these consultations and shaped by real parish experience.” It will continue into 2027.

According to the diocese, learning from the pilot programme will be “critical” in shaping a comprehensive rollout plan across Dublin rooted in co-responsibility and reflecting the realities of its faith communities.

The diocese is structured into five pastoral areas catering for 53 partnerships of parishes for a Catholic population recorded in the 2022 census as 996,000 people.

The strategic funding plan and new pilot are part of a practical roadmap for the renewal of Dublin’s parishes under the three-year framework, ‘Building Hope’.

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