Funerals without Priests are expected to become the norm here by the end of the decade.
The Association of Catholic Priests is predicting grieving families will see radical changes at funerals because of the declining number of clergy.
The Irish Independent quotes spokesperson for the group Fr. Roy Donovan as saying he believes lay-led ceremonies will be commonplace.
The Dublin Archdiocese has already introduced training programmes for parishioners to ease the burden on overworked Priests.
