Irish Catholic Bishops say there has been a "lack of assistance" for community facilities, including parish centres, community halls and church buildings in Budget 2023.
At their autumn meeting, they welcomed "certain" budget measures; particularly those that will support households, businesses, sports and voluntary organisations with rising inflationary energy costs.
The bishops noted that church buildings are frequented by homeless and vulnerable people to keep warm and to be safe during the winter months.
They believe the numbers seeking to spend part of their day in such settings can be expected to rise dramatically due to soaring heating costs and have not ruled out "drastic closures".
To address this dilemma, they have called on the Government to make "assistance available so that these vital community resources can remain open on a sustainable basis throughout this stressful period, and to offer grant support to equip such facilities to be more energy efficient in the future".
