Catholic Church Remains Quiet During Ireland's Fierce Abortion Debate Voters in Ireland will go to the polls Friday for a referendum that ... I was born in 1969 in a mother and baby home in Cork.

Last year, 15 men were ordained as Catholic priests for the entire island, with 5.6 million people (4.2 million of them Catholic). In the Anglican-linked Church of Ireland, a fraction of the ...

With decreasing vocations, priests in Ireland are also spread thin, with 2,116 priests serving at 2,650 churches or Mass centers. And more than a third of Irish priests are over the age of 60.

In Cork, and Galway too, ... In 2018, the Catholic Church in Ireland stands at another crossroads, but its leaders give no clear indication that they know where they are going.

In 2021, a survey by the Association of Catholic Priests found that only about 30% of Catholics in Ireland attend Mass weekly — a significant drop from 91% in 1975.