The Association of Catholic Priests says 'lay-led' ceremonies will become more common in Ireland.
The Association of Catholic Priests says the declining number of clergy has already forced the Dublin Archdiocese to train parishioners to help priests.
It's pointing to the lack of people entering the priesthood and the increasing age of priests as the main factors.
Dublin's Archdiocese is among those to already introduce training programmes in preparation
Fr. Tim Hazelwood from the diocese of Cloyne outlines the scale of the issue:
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