Loss of priests ‘hurting morale’

The dramatic slump in vocations is devastating morale among priests, the Bishop of Ferns has said.

Denis Brennan said the lack of new priests was one of the biggest challenges facing the Catholic Church which had to rethink how to minister to its faithful.

Bishop Brennan said 50 years ago, 441 priests were ordained in a year while now it is 12 or 13 annually.