PRESS RELEASE

18 JUNE 2004

DIOCESE OF KILDARE AND LEIGHLIN LAUNCHES RESPONSE

TO CONSULTATION PROCESS ON PASTORAL PRIORITIES FOR THE DIOCESE

Embargoed until 9.00am on Saturday 19th June 2004

Last January a series of open parish meetings took place in the Diocese of
Kildare and Leighlin to discuss Together in Christ, the124 page Guide to
the diocese which was released as a draft edition in October 2003.

The draft Guide was circulated throughout the Diocese to assist parishioners
in every parish to identify and comment on what the key priorities for the
diocese should be in the coming years.

More than 1200 people participated in the parish meetings and feedback from
these meetings was then sent to the diocesan offices. This feedback has now
been collated and summarised in a report that will be circulated in parishes
in the diocese on the weekend of 19th/20th June 2004.

The report comprises a short statement from Most Rev Jim Moriarty, Bishop
of Kildare and Leighlin and a summary of the main points of consensus that
emerged from the parish meetings. 25,000 copies of the report will be
circulated in parishes.

Overall there was a warm welcome for the diocesan Guide and the associated
consultation process. People welcomed the opportunity to give their opinion
and to be involved in setting the agenda for the diocese for the future.

The three main themes that emerged as priorities for the diocese were:

* Reaching out
* Faith Formation
* Liturgy

Reaching Out
The recurring themes in the Guide of welcome, hospitality and belonging
received a lot of support as did the idea of parish as home, family and
a place of welcome. Reaching out to young people, newcomers to the community
and to those currently uncommitted to parish life were seen as the top
priorities.

Faith Formation
Many parishioners commented on the need for personal faith development
and ongoing faith formation. Training and support were seen as key
priorities for those involved in various parish ministries such as
readers, pastoral councils etc.

Liturgy
A number of parishioners commented on the importance of the Sunday Liturgy.
Family and Youth Masses were also identified as important aspects of the
parish liturgy. The general consensus was that liturgy generally needs to
be made more interesting and relevant to people’s lives today.

Commenting on the report the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Most Rev
Jim Moriarty said: “I fully endorse this report and the priorities that
have been identified. I undertake to facilitate the implementation of
these priorities by providing appropriate resources and training at
diocesan and parish level. Already planning for a diocesan-wide campaign
on the theme of ‘reaching out’ is taking place and it is hoped that
this will be launched after the summer.

“I would like to thank all those who participated in any way in the
consultation process, in particular I thank the people who organised
the meetings and forwarded feedback to the diocese. It is my hope that
this dialogue will continue and will become standard practice for our
diocese as we plan for the future together.”

Ends

Further information:
Fr Mícheál Murphy: 086 824 4629
Fr Bill Kemmy Tel: 087 230 8053
Ms Brenda Drumm Tel: 087 233 7797

Notes to Editors:

1. A copy of the report is available in pdf format by request and on the CCO
website under Press Releases. (click here for quicklink to report)

2. More than 5,000 copies of the draft Guide Together in Christ were printed
and circulated

3. The diocese of Kildare and Leighlin is one of the twenty-six dioceses in
Ireland. Along with Ferns and Ossory, it is part of the Dublin province with
the Archbishop of Dublin as its metropolitan. The diocese includes County
Carlow and parts of Counties Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Kilkenny, Wicklow and
Wexford. The estimated Catholic population of the diocese is about 200,000.
The major towns of Newbridge, Naas, Portlaoise and Carlow account for a large
percentage of this total.

4. A photograph of Bishop Moriarty is available on request.