A NOBEL peace prize winner from Belfast has said the Catholic Church should urgently consider ordaining women and married men to tackle a severe shortage of priests.
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, one of the founders of the Peace People, said the shortage of priests was an issue that needed to be addressed "immediately and as a matter of urgency".
She urged Pope Francis to open the Vatican to "meaningful dialogue" on the matter and other issues amid concerns that calls for change are not being addressed.
It comes after a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests yesterday warned that dwindling vocations could result in funeral masses with up to 10 coffins in a church at the same time.
Only 13 students began studies for the priesthood this year at St Patrick's College in Maynooth, Co Kildare, compared to 110 in 1973.
In a letter to The Irish News, Ms Corrigan Maguire said many lay people in Ireland wanted to see change in the Catholic Church.
"For instance, there is a very serious shortage of priests and this is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately and as a matter of urgency," the 70-year-old said.
"Various options present themselves. We could, for example, reinstate those priests who have married but who wish to return to priestly ministry.
"We could create new and innovative ways for lay people to participate in church ministry. We could also discuss an issue that's very close to my own heart, the ordination of women."
Ms Corrigan Maguire cofounded the Peace People in 1976 after the death of her sister Anne's three children when they were hit by a car driven by an IRA man, who had been shot dead by the British army.