According to the Catholic church norms, a priest can conduct only one mass a day and do a mass intention for just one person.

Thelekkat said the current rates for a mass intention, if the request is made here, is Rs.50, and if the request comes from abroad the price is US $5.

'This money which the priest receives is a sort of maintenance allowance for him. And the priest has to transfer any extra request for mass intention to the diocese, which distributes it to other priests every year,' said Thelekkat.

Of Kerala's around 32 million population, Christians constitute 23 percent and of this Catholics account for more than half. There are more than 6,000 Catholic priests in the state.

However, a spokesperson of the Kerala Bishops Conference of India, Fr Stephen Alathara, said he was not aware of a fall in outsourcing of mass intentions.

'But I do know that due to the global crisis there has been a drop in the funds that arrive here from abroad by way of charity and grants,' said Alathara.