Clerical child sex abuse, falling Mass attendance, an ageing clergy and the Northern peace process are likely to dominate talks between Ireland's Catholic bishops, the Pope and senior Vatican officials in Rome during the next two weeks.
The bishops yesterday began their first ad limina visit to Rome in seven years. Between now and October 30th they will report in detail to the Pope and senior Vatican officials on the situation of the church in Ireland.
All Catholic bishops in charge of a diocese are required to make an ad limina visit to Rome every five years.
However, due to the ill-health of Pope John Paul, the last such visit took place in 1999.
The intervening seven years have been momentous for the church in Ireland, including revelations about clerical child sex abuse, the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey, the Ferns report - to which the Vatican has yet to respond - and the investigation into how clerical child sex abuse allegations were handled by the Dublin archdiocese.
There have also been the revelations about Miceál Ledwith,former president of the national seminary at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, and the disclosure that each Irish Catholic diocese had insurance in place since 1987 to protect it in the event of legal action arising from clerical child sex abuse.
There has been the continuing work of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse which, though not directly involving the bishops, will be of interest to the Vatican.
Pope Benedict has already expressed surprise at the sharp decline in regular attendance at Mass here, particularly among young people.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, said earlier this year the Pope was taken aback when he told him about the situation in Ireland.
"I can go to parishes on a Sunday where I find no person in the congregations between the ages of 16 and 36. None at all," he said.
He added: "This has to be looked at in a situation where, anyhow, regular practice in a substantial number of parishes in Dublin is below 5 per cent."
The archbishop has also said the situation was "grave" where vocations were concerned.
He said Pope Benedict "expressed horror at the extent of paedophilia which has existed in places in the church" when he told him about the State inquiry into the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations in Dublin.
There are 26 Catholic dioceses on the island of Ireland and all diocesan bishops are taking part in the visit to the Vatican, with the exception of Dublin auxiliary bishop Dr Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh, who is recovering from surgery.
Each bishop has sent a report to Rome describing the situation of the church in his own diocese.
