Delay to rest

Dwindling priest numbers impact on burial times

- EMMA MCMENAMY

A SHORTAGE of priests has seen families facing a wait of up to a fortnight before they can bury their loved ones. 

Mounting pressure on parishes – with many now down to just one serving cleric – means some grieving relatives are turning to funeral directors to conduct services.

Stephen Murphy, of Jennings Funeral Directors, said more people are holding ceremonies in funeral homes as fewer priests means a longer wait for a church Mass.

He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “In the past you may have had two or three priests in a particular parish, the likelihood now is that there is only one.