EVENING OF CONVERSATION ON PRIESTHOOD

Launch of Brochure on Priesthood in the Archdiocese of Armagh

At a recent Priests Conference, Archbishop Eamon Martin launched a Brochure on Priesthood in the Archdiocese of Armagh. The Brochure which was created by members of the Diocesan Vocations Commission features three priests of the diocese and it’s a resource to promote the Vocation to Priesthood. Present for the Launch and the Conference were Fr Willie Purcell, National Director of Vocations and Deacon Eric Cooney, Director of the National Vocations Office, Maynooth.

Advice regarding Coronvirus – COVID-19

Following the most up to date advice from public health authorities – North and South – the Archdiocese of Armagh are implementing the following important guidance immediately:

People who feel unwell with symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g. cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, high temperature) should not attend religious services but should stay at home and follow the advice of their GP and public health authorities. Parishioners should be reminded that they are dispensed from their Sunday obligation to attend Mass if they are unwell.

The Sign of Peace should be suspended at this time.

Similarly, the practice of shaking hands on greeting and departure at religious services/ gatherings should be suspended for both clergy and laity.

Holy Water fonts should not be used at this time.

Only the celebrant should drink from the Chalice.

Holy Communion should be administered into the hands only and NOT onto the tongue

Everyone administering Holy Communion should wash their hands or use alcohol based hand gel before beginning.

Parishes should take the following prudent actions:

Supply tissues and alcohol based hand gel at religious services/gatherings
Provide bins for disposal of tissues at religious gatherings.
Ensure hand-washing facilities, including soap and disposable towels, are well maintained.
Ensure all hard surfaces that are frequently touched, such as door handles, hand rails, taps and pews are cleaned regularly with a household detergent.

Parochial activities/social religious gatherings on church premises should follow sensible practices, including hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene.

You may also find the following PDF link to guidance for religious services in relation to Coronavirus issued by the HSE useful: https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/guidance/religioussettingsguidance/COVID%2019_Guidance%20for%20religious%20services%20V1.pdf

Home of St Patrick Festival, Armagh

Celebrate St Patrick – St Patrick’s RC Cathedral: Saturday 7 March, 8.00pm

Join composer and presenter John Anderson as he conducts a reflective and celebratory event honouring St Patrick. Set in the magnificent St Patrick’s RC Cathedral, choirs from all over the island and further afield will join together in a unique evening of music and spoken word.

A limited number of audience seats priced £5 are available through The Market Place Theatre Box Office. Please note that these seats may have restricted views and the event will be recorded for future broadcast and marketing purposes.

Celebrating St Patrick with Armagh Cathedrals Partnership – The Market Place Theatre: Wednesday 11 March, 7.30pm

Free but booking essential through The Market Place Theatre

Armagh Cathedrals Partnership invite you to a special evening of music, story, poetry and prayer to celebrate St Patrick. The guest speaker will be Rev Ruth Patterson who has been a Presbyterian Minister for many years and she has been deeply committed to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. She was the first woman to be ordained a minister in Ireland and she has authored a number of books and articles stemming from her commitment to unity and peace. It promises to be a very special evening as we celebrate the St Patrick’s Festival in Armagh and light refreshments will be served afterwards.

St Patrick’s Lecture – The Market Place Theatre: Friday 13 March, 1pm -2pm

Free but booking essential through The Market Place Theatre

Prior to St Patrick’s Day, Archbishop Eamon Martin and Dean Gregory Dunstan, will give the annual St Patrick’s Lecture and they will speak on “Patrick as a model for reconciliation today”. All are welcome!

St Patrick’s Vigil – St Patrick’s Cathedrals: Monday 16 March – commencing at the COI Cathedral at 9pm with prayer. Visitors will then be led in torchlight to the RC Cathedral where we will conclude with prayer. Light refreshments will be served in the Synod Hall after this event. All are welcome to join.

Come and See Weekend

A “Come and See Weekend” will take place on Saturday 16^th and Sunday 17^th May 2020 in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth for those who are thinking about Diocesan Priesthood. It will be an opportunity for men (18 years and older) to come together, to reflect more on the call to Diocesan Priesthood. Those who join for the weekend will have an opportunity to meet with other Seminarians and Priests and ask questions and there will be some time for worship and prayer. There will be no cost for the weekend and accommodation and meals will be provided. For further information about the weekend you can email [email protected] or you can contact your local Diocesan Vocations Director at [email protected] or call Fr Peter at 028 37522802

#LivingLent to bring us closer to God – Archbishop Eamon Martin

Pope Francis’ message for Lent: We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God
Trócaire’s Lenten campaign focuses on the theme of mothers protecting their families

Ahead of Ash Wednesday tomorrow, which marks the beginning of Lent 2020, Archbishop Eamon Martin has launched the #LivingLent initiative on Twitter and Instagram. #LivingLent invites the faithful to use social media to grow closer to God during this sacred season.

Archbishop Eamon said, “As we prepare for Easter over the next 40 days, our spiritual conversion can be nourished by daily actions, thoughts, prayers and words. During Lent we also offer a particular sacrifice in our personal lives to help strengthen our relationship with the all-merciful Lord. In his message for Lent 2020 We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20), we are encouraged by Pope Francis who reminds us, ‘life is born of the love of God our Father from the desire to grant us life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10)’.”

Archbishop Eamon continued, “I invite everyone to read the Holy Father’s short Lenten message. To complement his text our #LivingLent initiative on Twitter and Instagram, and online resources on catholicbishops.ie, offer suggestions for fasting, prayer and charity – the three pillars of the Lenten season. The objective of our Lenten digital initiative is to assist our spiritual preparation for the joy and hope of the Easter season.”

The #LivingLent initiative offers short daily suggestions on Twitter and Instagram. These include prayer and scripture suggestions; opportunities for penance and fasting in our daily lives, for example fasting from gossip, fasting from negativity online, giving up certain foods; availing of the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession; suggestions of charitable acts like donating to Trócaire and other charities; donating your time by helping your own family, school, parish; and, by behaving in a charitable way towards all those whom we meet.

Everyone can use the hashtag #LivingLent and share with their followers how they are putting the themes of prayer, fasting and charity into practice during this Lenten season.

In addition, the 2020 Lenten campaign of Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Bishops’ Conference, focuses on the theme of mothers protecting their families. The Trócaire box tells the story of two mothers: Angela in Honduras who is protecting her family’s land from logging companies, and Madris in Kenya who is trying to provide for her family in the face of climate change. It tells two very different stories but both are linked by mothers trying to provide futures for their children. See www.trocaire.org for details.

ENDS
Notes for Editors

Archbishop Eamon Martin is Archbishop of Armagh, Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Dromore and chair of the Communications Council of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
See catholicbishops.ie for the text of the message of Pope Francis for Lent 2020; for Lenten resources; and, for links to the #LivingLent initiative on Instagram and Twitter.

The liturgical season of Lent

Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence for Christians. For the believer Lent is the time of preparation for Easter and it commemorates the forty days which, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent fasting in the desert before beginning His public ministry where He endured temptation. In Lent – through prayer, penance (including participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession), acts of charity and self-denial – we are called to renewal of our Christian life in preparation for Easter:

Prayer

The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ’s carrying the Cross and of His execution, are often observed. As well as giving something up it is becoming more common to take something up as well and this may include taking time to volunteer, or spending more time in prayer.

Fasting and Penance

Penance is an essential part of the lives of all Christ’s faithful. It arises from the Lord’s call to conversation and repentance. Christians undertake penance: in memory of the Passion and death of Jesus; as a sharing in Christ’s suffering; as an expression of inner conversion; as a form of reparation for sin. During Lent the faithful are asked to renew their practice of ‘Friday Penance’ by undertaking some of the following:

– abstain from meat or some other food

– make a special effort to participate in Mass on Fridays (in addition to Sunday)

– make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament

– abstain from alcoholic drink or smoking

– make a special effort to spend time together in family prayer

– make the Stations of the Cross

– fast from all food for a longer period than usual and give what is saved to the needy

– help someone who is sick, old or lonely.

Charity

Traditionally during Lent many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxuries as a form of penitence, the money saved from this can be donated to charity, for example, contributing to their Trócaire box.

For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long +353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm +353 (0) 87 310 4444.

Reopening of St Malachy’s Church, Armagh.

St Malachys Church Refurbished Armagh 15 February 2020 CREDIT: LiamMcArdle.com

Over the last few weeks, St Malachy’s Church, Armagh was closed for some general maintenance and for redecoration. On Friday, 21 February Archbishop Martin celebrated Mass in the Church for its reopening.

Homily given by Archbishop Eamon Martin at the reopening of
St Malachy’s Church, Armagh.

Friday, 21 February 2020.

It’s almost a year now since the beautiful Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was gravely damaged by fire. I can still vividly remember the sight of the people of Paris staring in shock, or kneeling in prayer as the inferno engulfed the historic 850 year old building. There was an audible gasp and cry from the crowd as the distinctive steeple collapsed in flames. President Macron spoke to the world with tears in his eyes: “Part of us is burning”, he said.

It seems strange in some ways that the destruction of a Catholic Cathedral in such a secular country as France evoked such a pained reaction. But then this was no ordinary Cathedral – millions of people from all over the world have visited Notre Dame. And in many ways it is one of those sacred spaces that appeals to the spirit within people all over the world. Even non-believers are touched by its beauty and it points everyone to something beyond our senses – the transcendent God who is truth and beauty itself. Thankfully, the ensuing days brought some relief, as pledges of millions of euros were made for the restoration of the Cathedral and it became clear that the rose windows, the gargoyles and belfry were not destroyed and many of the sacred objects were saved – the priest chaplain to the Paris fire brigade spoke of how he had rescued the Blessed Sacrament and the priceless relic of the crown of thorns.

Every time I go inside a majestic church like Notre dame or our own cathedral or indeed this beautiful church of St Malachy, my eyes are drawn up to heaven and I can’t help thinking: “This place was made by God”!

When you visit St Malachy’s you are moved to praise God and you are instinctively drawn to prayer. Visiting here is not like entering a museum or art gallery. This is a living place of worship. For decades people have come here to lift their hearts and minds to God in worship, thanksgiving, petition, sorrow and intercession for others. I think tonight of the baptisms, first communions, the weddings the funerals, the millions of prayers offered up here in times of joy, worry, sorrow, happiness, decisions, exams, relationships, hopes, fears, pleading, thanking…

As we celebrate the repainting and reopening of St Malachy’s this evening, it is good to take a moment to say thanks to God for the skill and dedication of the craftsmen and women who laboured in its construction in the 1930s when it was decided to replace the old St Malachy’s church building in Chapel Lane which was almost two hundred years old at that time. we also give thanks for all those who have laboured in various restorations, reorderings and enhancements over the years. i think of the many people who have given their time, gifts and talents to hand this Church on to us in the years since Cardinal Mc Rory dedicated it in 1938. This church links us to the many people who have gone before us and will come after us to worship here. Please God St Malachy’s will remain a source of spiritual comfort to countless families in the future in their joys and in their sorrows.

But of course in saying all this it is worth reminding ourselves that the Church is not primarily a building – it is made up of people, and one day this beautiful building will fall into ruin, or be replaced. What is important is that the faith and hope and worship that this sacred space represents, will be kept alive in the hearts and families of the people of Armagh and beyond, and be handed on to the next generation. Dear brothers and sisters, as St Peter wrote:

“ (1 Peter 2:5) Set yourselves close to (Jesus) so that you, too, may be living stones making a spiritual house”.

The beautiful story is told of the call of St Francis who, while praying in the small church of San Damiano in Assisi, heard the Lord speaking to him, saying, “Go and rebuild my church which is falling in ruins.” He immediately began rebuilding the physical structure of the place but soon realised that what God was really talking about was rebuilding the faith.

It’s a reminder to us all that, although we may have beautiful buildings of bricks and mortar and sacred art and relics, this is all useless if we and our children and grandchildren do not know Jesus, and do not hold in our lives the hope and joy and sense of purpose and mission that knowing Jesus brings. The faith in Ireland is at a turning point and it would be a shame if in years to come this beautiful place of prayer and worship became simply another tourist stop for visitors to Armagh – to be told y some tour guide “people used to come here in their hundreds and thousands to pray and praise the one they called God, but we’re over all that religion stuff now”.

Dear brothers and sisters, the task of handing on the faith belongs to all of us here. We are called to mission, not to be afraid to witness to Jesus as St Malachy did, and so many others before him and since. “Go and rebuild the Church of God” in your homes and families in this community, country and in the world. Thanks be to God for this beautiful place of worship which is part of us part of who we are as a parish, city, diocese and Church. Thanks be to God, St Malachy pray for us.

Amen.

St Malachys Church Refurbished
Armagh
15 February 2020
CREDIT: LiamMcArdle.com

Year of Reflection & Prayer in Armagh Parish – Mondays in Lent 2 March – 6 April

On each of the Monday evenings during Lent, a guest speaker will join in St Malachy’s Church, Armagh at 7.30pm to help us reflect on each of the following themes:

Mon 2 Mar “God of this new year, we are walking into mystery” with Bishop Michael Router, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh.
Mon 9 Mar “We face a future not knowing what the days and months will bring to us or how we will respond”
Mon 16 Mar “Be love in us as we journey” with Fr Noel Kehoe is a Redemptorist priest, now Rector of St Joseph’s Parish, Dundalk.
Mon 23 Mar “Deepen our faith to see all things through your eyes” with Fr Adrian Eastwood who is Vincentian Priest and Chaplain in Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast.
Mon 30 Mar “Fill us with hope and trust that you are in the midst of all that happens” with Fr Pat Kelly, a Priest of the Society of African Missions
Mon 6 Apr “God of this new year, we praise you for giving us life and opportunities” with Deacon John Taaffe who ministers in St Peter’s Parish, Drogheda.

All welcome.

St Patrick’s Archdiocesan Trust Limited – Annual General Meeting – 13 February 2020

I commend to you the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2018-2019 for The St Patrick’s Archdiocesan Trust. In doing so I express my gratitude for the work of so many people for supporting and advancing our objectives: the lay faithful, clergy, religious, employees, volunteers and others working within our 61 parishes together with other organisations and societies which help to make up the “family of families” that is the Archdiocese of Armagh.

I am heartened that so much has been achieved over the past year in spreading the Joy of the Gospel in accordance with our Diocesan Pastoral Plan.

We have just launched a year of prayer and reflection in preparation for consideration of a new Diocesan Pastoral Plan for the start of this new decade. The Church must always respond to the ever changing circumstances of modern life, taking account of the ongoing decline in vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, while at the same time harnessing opportunities for the baptised faithful to find their own particular calling and being enabled to bring their gifts and talents to building up their Church.

Highlights of 2018-19 include our amazing local launch of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in the summer and the visit by His Holiness, Pope Francis to Dublin. The WMOF has provided us with much inspiration for the renewal of catechesis and family ministry throughout the Archdiocese and Ireland.

The recent unveiling of the shrine for St Oliver Plunkett in St Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh which was prepared for during 2018-2019 has also helped to inspire a sense of witness and courage amongst the people of the diocese and beyond. The persecution of Christianity around the world is helping to make us aware of our own daily crosses and sacrifices, and encouraging us to be stronger in our faith, firmer in our hope and more active in our charity.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements are more than just figures on a page – they tell the story of the efforts and priorities of the Archdiocese of Armagh and provide a record of our work. I am grateful to all who contributed to producing them. As Trustees we are committed to open governance, transparency and accountability are we will be taking further steps to enhance good governance and communication both within the Archdiocese and with those with whom we come into contact.

A full copy of the Annual Report and Financial Statements and a summary of the Financial Statements to 31^st March 2019 can be view below.

+ Eamon Martin
Archbishop of Armagh

Annual Report 2020

Archdiocese of Armagh – Financial Statements 31 March 2019

Archbishop Eamon Martin welcomes the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazonia)

“It would be wonderful if some Irish priests, religious and lay missionaries were to consider offering even a five year period of ministry to the Amazon” – Archbishop Eamon Martin

I warmly welcome the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazonia), which the Holy Father Pope Francis published today, on the challenges facing the Amazon region and lessons for the Church worldwide. The document reflects the four key dimensions – cultural, ecological, social and pastoral – which were discussed at the Amazonian Synod in Rome last October, and it highlights how these are inextricably linked.

Although Querida Amazonia aims to strengthen solidarity with our brothers and sisters in that beautiful and vital part of our world, it is not just a document of interest to the peoples of the Amazon. It is also a call to action for all in our Church and in our world. It therefore picks up the concerns expressed all around the world, especially our by our young people, that we must work together to respect creation and life, to promote the dignity of the human person, and to protect those who are most affected by environmental destruction. As the Holy Father states: “The equilibrium of our planet also depends on the health of the Amazon region.” (QA para.48)

The document addresses once again those areas of urgent concern which Pope Francis reflected on in his Encyclical Laudato Sí five years ago. As then, the Holy Father today presents a clear-sighted analysis of the grave threats to the peoples and ecosystems of the Amazon, and by extension to the earth, our common home. He highlights the problems of poverty, economic and social injustice and the violation of human rights which are intertwined in the vicious cycle of ecological and human degradation.

Pope Francis also calls for the full involvement of lay people, especially women, in the life of the Church, and he challenges the Church around the world to send missionaries to help sustain the spread of the Gospel in the Amazon and other remote areas. Despite the challenges we have here in Ireland with finding enough priests and religious to serve our parishes, we should not forget that Ireland has always been a country which has responded to the Church’s call to mission. I recently visited mission and development projects in Ecuador, Peru and Nicaragua and was humbled to see the immense contribution that Irish missionaries, religious and Trócaire workers are making there. It would be wonderful if some Irish priests, religious and lay missionaries today were to consider offering even a five year period of ministry to the Amazon. In calling us to hear the cry of the earth, and the cry of the Amazon, Pope Francis opens our ears especially to the cry of the poor and the exploited in our world, and in particular their cry for justice and hope that is found in the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis, as always, is anxious that the people of the world are not “robbed of hope”. In calling for an ecological conversion, he invites us all to move from awareness to active response, and to see, especially in our young people, the signs of hope for the future and the spur to action in the present. There is much in this inspiring and at times poetic document for all of us to reflect upon. I strongly encourage all who care about creation and our future generations to read Querida Amazonia and also the final document of the Amazonian Synod. These documents can help, as Pope Francis put it, to give the Church “an Amazonian face”! They will also give heart to those who strive, in the words of Pope Francis, to “pray and work together, side by side, to defend the poor of the Amazon region, to show the sacred countenance of the Lord, and to care for his work of creation” (QA para.110).

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