The Catholic archdiocese of Dublin experienced a drop in income of more than a third in 2021, from €7.4 million in 2020 to €5.2 million in 2021, according to its latest financial report.

In 2021 the pandemic continued to have a detrimental effect on Mass collections due to the prolonged suspension of public worship and restrictions on numbers allowed attend. When churches were permitted to reopen, only 50 people could attend services and passing collection baskets along pews was not permitted.

“It was hoped that 2022 would see a return of the collections to the pre-pandemic levels. However, this has proven to be too optimistic as this has not been the case to date,” the report said.

The financial report also found that the Common Fund collection (first collection at Masses) had dropped 49 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic collections

Most of the costs of running diocesan offices are met by the second weekly Share collection. It dropped by 1 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020 figures but, when compared to pre-pandemic 2019 collections, it was down by 61 per cent.