Waterford diocese unable to pay priests' Christmas wages due to major decrease in donations

The Catholic diocese of Waterford and Lismore has said it did not have enough money to pay its priests' wages at Christmas due to a major falloff in the amount of donations collected from parishioners.

Administrators already had to borrow from diocesan funds to pay the 60 or more priests last September and had to raise money from parish reserves again in December for the last quarterly salary payment.