The number of Catholics in Germany fell by more than 216,078 last year – a fall of about 1 per cent of the total.

The Church of the Annunciation, one of Ireland's largest church buildings, capable of holding more than 3,000 people, is now falling into disrepair. It will be replaced by a new 350-seat church more suited to the needs of the parish today.

The majority of Catholics worldwide now live south of the Equator and, by 2025, four out of five Catholics will be Spanish speaking

The private sector will never build social housing units on the scale required.

At the annual Festival of Peoples celebration, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin stresses that those who contribute to the common good in Irish society have rights.

"The closure represents a diminution of the religious pluralism in Cork at a very time when ... greater religious diversity than ever before is a mark of our nation."

Archdiocese of Dublin has embarked in "an ongoing, systematic re-organisation" of its 466 primary schools Oireachtas Committee hears.