Parishioners will be levied to make up the shortfall if organisers of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) fail to raise the 9m necessary to cover the event.
This comes as fundraisers have admitted that reaching the 9m target necessary is “proving to be quite a challenge”.
The fourth national collection for the June 10-17 event is due to be held in parishes across the country next month and Church leaders are hopeful of raising in the region of 2m.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has just returned from a fundraising trip to Canada for the event.
Fifty per cent of the 9m cost is hoped to be raised from private donors on such trips, with the remaining 4.5m needing to come from parishioners donations.
However, if these donations are not forthcoming, dioceses will dip into parish funds to make up the shortfall since the bishops conference has pledged to underwrite any deficit.
Bishop John Fleming, who chairs the National Finance Committee for the congress, said the previous three national collections have gone “very well”.
“The people have been extremely generous in difficult times,” he said.
The previous collections raised a total of approximately 3m and Bishop Fleming said he was “hopeful that the collection this year will raise a similar amount, if not more”.
However, Dr Fleming, who is Bishop of Killala, admitted that the fundraising campaign is “proving to be quite a challenge”.
He said he was confident that the IEC would not go over the 9m budget set by the committee.
However, he said it was “too early to say” whether the total funds needed would be raised or whether the Irish bishops conference would have to make up the shortfall.
However, since the conference has no reserves for such an eventuality, parishes will be levied to make up the difference if there is a deficit.
Each of the countrys 26 dioceses have been set ambitious targets which they must achieve for the collection ranging from around 50,000 for smaller dioceses to hundreds of thousands for larger dioceses.
Parishes have also been set individual targets which, if not met, will mean dioceses will make up the shortfall by dipping into parish funds.
State funding
Asked whether the organisers had considered seeking funding from the State since the event will bring tens of thousands of visitors and millions of Euro to the country, Dr Fleming said that from the outset the committee was “of the view that we should fundraise for this ourselves.
“The Government has other very important commitments, especially in regard to funding of schools and hospitals,” he said.