A father-of-two, desperate to keep the doors of a historical Catholic church open, has called for the Vatican to make radical reforms to solve the problem of a lack of priests.

Martin Raistrick, 42, wants married men to be allowed to take Mass, and he has argued the Catholic faith must modernise to stop a decline in its congregations.

The Leeds Roman Catholic Diocese has carried out a review of its Bradford parishes, resulting in 20 churches being merged and ten closing.

One of those due to close is St Mary's in East Parade, Barkerend, Bradford, which Mr Raistrick described as "an abandonment".

He said: "In the Catholic church they are saying there is a shortage of priests. I have said for years they want to bring themselves up to date - I'm sure they would have more priests if they allowed married men."

St Mary's ceased holding Sunday services earlier this year, although until the beginning of next month the congregation will be able to attend Mass on a Saturday evening.

A drop in the congregational numbers, building maintenance and a shortage of priests were all cited as reasons for the church closure programme in Bradford.

Mr Raistrick said church leaders had not made use of all the resources available.

The church, which is a listed building, is in need of repairs costing an estimated £2 million.

Chris Ransome, 52, organist at St Mary's, said: "It's a bit like a cathedral for Catholics in Bradford. It's a shame they are closing it."

Mr Raistrick and Mr Ransome said the tradition and beauty of the building would make keeping it open worthwhile.

They argued other buildings owned by St Mary's could have raised funds to put towards the costs.

John Grady, spokesman for Leeds' Catholic Diocese, said: "The trouble with St Mary's is it's the wrong church in the wrong place without the congregation and support it now needs.

"Whatever changes we made there problems are not going to be solved."

He said decisions about what would happen to the disused churches would be made following the closures in October.

Mr Grady admitted St Mary's could pose a problem because of its listed status.

e-mail: rebecca.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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