Dear Brothers and Sisters, We come together today as a community to mourn the unexpected loss of one of our own in this Christmas season, a time which we normally associate with new life, family, festivity and celebration. For us the season has changed, and we turn today to the God whose presence amongst us […]

Press release for New Year’s Day – World Day of Peace – 1 January 2015 “Religious freedom is at the heart of human rights” – Bishop Buckley Bishop John Buckley, Bishop of Cork & Ross, today, New Year’s day, celebrated Mass for World Day of Peace in the Church of Saint Francis, Liberty Street, in […]

A new year’s resolution for Ireland, North and South, might be to raise awareness and do what we can to tackle the global scandal of human trafficking” – Archbishop Eamon The bells ringing out the old year and ringing in the New Year remind us of how quickly time passes. Even since this time last […]

Father Patrick O’Donoghue CC, Cobh, will be the chief celebrant and will preach the homily at the Requiem Mass for Mrs Valerie Greaney RIP which will take place at 11:00am on this Friday 2 January 2015, in Saint Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, in the Diocese of Cloyne.  Father O’Donoghue’s homily will be made available to media […]

Bishop William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne, has asked for prayers for all of those affected by the tragic events in Cobh on Sunday afternoon. Bishop Crean said, “I was deeply shocked to hear of the deaths of Michael and Valerie Greaney and the serious injuries suffered by their daughter, Michelle. I ask the faithful of […]

Bishop Liam MacDaid, chair of the Council for Marriage and the Family of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, today said, “I invite the faithful to pray as part of the process and the work leading up to the next Synod on the Family in October 2015. I also wish to encourage prayers for all families, […]

“The people who walked in darkness has seen a great light”. Those words with which the first reading from Scripture at this Mass began are powerfully evocative. Tonight in few places in Ireland will this be felt so intensely as here in Saint Mel’s Cathedral. All Longford people, and many more from far and near, […]

Press Release embargoed until 00:00am Christmas Day, Thursday 25 December 2014 “This Christmas I am heartened by the news from Stormont that our politicians have made progress in removing some of the stumbling blocks obstructing the path to lasting peace” – Archbishop Martin A few weeks ago Austrian scouts took a light from one of […]

Christmas is a time of many images; parcels and reindeer, candles and trees. The image that is always strongest for me, however, is the image of family. Christmas brings me face to face with the Holy Family of Nazareth, the family into which Jesus was born and grew to human maturity, nourished by the love […]

One of the remarkable aspects of this little Christmas and New Year Message which the Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops of Clogher have been circulating for the past 33 years is that it appears in exactly the same form in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  Christmas is Christmas wherever you go.  In […]