( CNN ) -- The Catholic Church in Ireland is going high-tech in a bid to reverse a dramatic decline in the number of priests . An establishment viewed as a bastion of tradition is turning to a new app to encourage more `` applications . '' The app , says the church , is `` designed to promote vocations to the priesthood . '' It is being hailed as a `` world first '' by the church in Ireland . `` The app is an original approach to assist current and future generations seeking to investigate and find information on vocations to the diocesan priesthood in Ireland , '' a statement issued ahead of the launch said . The number of new recruits to the priesthood has fallen sharply in the recent decades -- and as Ireland has become engulfed in a series of child sex abuse scandals over the past few years . The situation led to a respected former Catholic bishop in Ireland to call for an end to clerical celibacy . Edward Daly , the retired bishop of Derry , said allowing clergymen to marry would ease many of the church 's problems . Daly told CNN he was worried about the decreasing number of priests and the number of older priests . The issue `` needs to be addressed and addressed urgently , '' Daly said , adding he found it `` heartbreaking '' priests were forced to resign or prospective priests were unable to join the priesthood because of the celibacy rule . The new 'Vocations ' app was designed by Father Paddy Rushe and developed by the company Magic Time Apps , based in Dublin . It is available to download for free from the Apple iPhone App Store , said the church . Some of the features of the app , according to the church , are : Connection to Twitter and Facebook ; Social networking at the service of vocations ; Contact details and statistics on the 26 dioceses of Ireland ; Frequently asked questions to assist a person to discern his vocation ; News feed running from the national vocations website ; Novel and cursory 'tests ' to enable the user to reflect on vocation potential . `` Future updates will include a `` prayer counter '' to allow people pledge a period of prayer for vocations and a picture gallery which will include some images from the life of a seminarian , '' the church statement said . The launch of the new app marks the official handover from Rushe as the National Coordinator for Diocesan Vocations to Father Willie Purcell and his team , said the church . The app is part of a campaign promoted on the church website -- http : //www.vocations.ie -- and follows 'Priesthood Sunday , ' which was on September 25 . The website called it `` an opportunity to highlight and promote particularly the vocation to the priesthood . '' A statement on the website stressed more priests are needed : `` The number of priests per Catholic has declined over the past 40 years . This makes it more difficult for individual parishioners to establish a close relationship with any one particular priest . '' `` Also , priests are no longer the only ones who offer pastoral care to our people , '' the statement continued . `` Yet without a priest , no parish is able to be a Eucharistic community . It is important to reaffirm the importance of the priesthood of Jesus Christ and its central place in the life of our church . ''
The app is a first by the Catholic Church in India . It 's being billed as a ' world first '' The app is ` ` ' to encourage vocations to the priesthood '' The number of priests per diocese has increased over the past few years .