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The country music star was due to perform in St Joseph’s Church in Boyle on December 13.
Tickets for the event were sold before Mr Carter was contacted by the parish priest, Fr John Gannon, to say he could not perform there.
The concert had been sanctioned by Fr Gannon’s predecessor, Fr Gerry Hanly, who retired on August 14.
In a statement, Mr Carter’s management said they were “extremely disappointed to get a phone call from Fr John in Boyle to say that we couldn’t run the concert in December, especially as it had already been agreed and tickets on sale.”
All tickets for the event will be refunded, Mr Carter’s management added.
Mr Carter is due to play a concert in Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cork city on December 11 – two days before he was to perform in Boyle.
Fr Gannon was contacted for comment regarding the decision, which has been met with disappointment locally.
Sinn Féin councillor Leah Cull, who represents the Boyle Local Electoral Area, said she “would not personally agree with the decision” to cancel the concert but said she respected Fr Gannon’s decision.
“Churches are important places in our community where people come together, and as this was intended to be a respectful concert, and similar have taken place elsewhere, it is regrettable that it will not go ahead in Boyle,” Cllr Cull told the Irish Independent.
Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran said that the Elphin diocese had a policy surrounding the playing of music in churches which was intended to “preserve the sacredness of the church as a place of worship”.
The policy does not explicitly prohibit the playing of non-sacred music in churches. It does, however, maintain that the music should “be consistent with the character and mission of the Church”.
“That does not mean that it has to be specifically liturgical music, but it should be spiritual, and where singing is involved, the lyrics should be consistent with the message of the Gospel.”
The policy goes on to state that the musicians should dress in a manner “consistent with the sacred character of the Church”.
“There can be concerts of sacred music, or music which is kind of consistent with the sacred purpose of the church, but it’s not a concert venue,” Bishop Doran said on Shannonside FM.
“The important thing is to preserve the nature of the church and the sanctuary as a sacred space,” he continued.
“The problems that we’ve had in the past are that the church is turned into a kind of disco setting and stages erected in the sanctuary where normally the Eucharist takes place.
“It’s not as if there were not other venues around where concerts can take place. But I suppose, in a sense, people like the ambience of the church, but that’s not really what the church is. It’s not a concert venue.”
Bishop Doran said the policy was “not anti-music” and “not in any sense a criticism” of Nathan Carter, but said his repertoire was “quite different”.
He said there was a difference between Christmas music “that you get in the supermarket” and the Christmas in a Christmas carol.
Mr Carter’s concerts typically feature a mixture of country standards, contemporary covers and Irish folk songs.
The Liverpool native, who has toured Ireland repeatedly over the years, has recorded a number of Christmas songs, such as Christmas Stuff, Beautiful Life at Christmas and Crazy Christmas.