A Derry priest has said the Catholic community must confront the fact that we have a "lapsed generation" of parents.
Father Aidan Mullan P.P. Waterside said he is concerned there are children attending Catholic schools in Derry who are not attending the Sunday liturgy.
And he says that Catholic schools are the most valuable resource we have in tackling the issue of non practicing and lapsed parents.
"I say we are half lapsed because there are grandparents swinging into action," he said.
"Grandparents are bringing children to Mass and teaching them their prayers.
"If people are not attending Mass, we say they are lapsed, but it is deeper than that.
"Because of our profound relationship with Jesus Christ in the Sunday Mass, we are in tune with the mind of Christ and have a greater urgency about being moral and doing what is right.
"The generation who are not coming to Mass now were brought to Mass when they were children and did get a powerful sense of what is right and wrong.
"Our Catholic schools are the most valuable resource we have in tackling those who have lapsed."
The Derry parish priest said that these days people get a "warped sense" of morality from the soaps and the church cannot compete with non religious performances at theatres and on television.
"People say Mass is dull, boring and uninteresting," he said, "that's because it's being compared to TV. Going to Mass is not a spectator sport, it involves concentration, application and preparation."
Father Mullan said that materialism and consumerism will fill the vacuum in people's lives if they have no specific morality.