The Archbishop of Dublin said that a forthcoming international congress in Ireland will give a divided and unhealthy Church a chance to reform amid fresh allegations over child abuse.

One of the institution’s weaknesses was that it had been unaware of a creeping secularisation and had become ‘a minority church’...

The Eucharistic Congress in June will reflect “a Church which has faced and still faces enormous challenges, but... is alive and vital and anxious to set out on a path to renewal,” Diarmuid Martin told a Vatican briefing.

Archbishop Martin’s comments came amid a serious backlash in Ireland against the head of the country’s Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Sean Brady, following accusations in a television documentary that he had failed as a young priest to report abuse.

The Archbishop refused to comment on Cardinal Brady’s situation, but insisted that the congress would not be overshadowed by the scandal, saying: “The overall challenge is not just about sex abuse, it goes much deeper. There are divisions within the Irish Church and at times unhealthy divisions. We need a much deeper reform in the church”.

One of the institution’s weaknesses was that it had been unaware of a creeping secularisation and had become a minority church, he said. But he insisted: “It is not an irrelevant Church... and should not only be associated with problems”.

The Republic of Ireland, a predominantly Catholic country, has been rocked by a number of landmark reports on child sex abuse.

Catholics from all over the world are expected to attend the congress from June 10 to 17, a formal celebration of Mass and a forum for reform debate in the context of the 50th anniversary of the birth of Vatican Council II.