The Archdiocese of Dublin recently announced that church donations have fallen by up to 80 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic and that priests have had to agree a 25 per cent cut in their personal allowance.
Between March and June of this year, the Archdiocese's "common fund" collection for priests was down by 70 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2019, whilst the "support for share" fund fell by 80 per cent over the same period. As reported by the Irish Times, the Dublin Archdiocese said that church closures have had “very serious consequences” for church revenue and that a financial restructuring strategy will be drawn up over the coming months to address “this urgent situation”. This restructuring will include the new clergy income measures as well as a voluntary redundancy scheme for up to a third of the 82 diocesan support staff and parish pastoral workers currently working in the archdiocese.
