With falling numbers, ageing priests and a declining congregation,
the Catholic Church is struggling to survive in many parts of Ireland.
Can it reinvigorate itself in a modern, secular country?
It was a dignified and moving retreat that is being replicated in towns,
cities and country areas right across Ireland. Last Sunday, the
Dominican friars moved out of their church in Athy in solemn procession
for the last time, ending an ancient association with the Kildare town
that goes back to the 13th century.
