Archbishop Mark Coleridge also believes Canberra has about twice the number of Catholic schools, parishes and churches that it needs.

Archbishop Coleridge will make a raft of recommendations before the July meeting of the Council of Priests.

Among them is a proposal to cancel Masses if they are not attended by at least 15 adults. In his address to last November's archdiocesan assembly, only now made public, Archbishop Coleridge said, ''And then there is the great question of Canberra … I sometimes think - this is a bit wicked - that we have about twice the number of schools and parishes and churches in Canberra than we need.'' The questions referred to include a shortage of priests and declining attendance.

Other recommendations include:

■ Not more than two Masses each Sunday except larger parishes with two or more priests and those which serve several communities.

■ In any month on a Sunday, no parish or community is to have fewer celebrations of Mass than Liturgies of the Word with Holy Communion. (This would apply particularly to some rural parishes which do not have a full-time priest.)

Sunday evening Mass will be retained where possible, at least on a co-ordinated regional basis.

''My hope is that these decisions can be implemented in a fairly short space of time and that consideration of the proposals by the consultative bodies will also be prompt,'' Archbishop Coleridge said.

Through his office, Archbishop Coleridge was asked to expand on his opinion that Canberra has too many schools, parishes and churches. No response has been received.

The final report of November's assembly says there was wide recognition of the special needs of rural parishes and the relative oversupply of priests in Canberra. Even before the assembly, there was concern in some smaller parishes they would be combined with another parish.

There was also concern about the travel demands on priests, particularly in rural areas.