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Season of Creation 1st September – 4th October 2021

Season of Creation 2021 

The Season of Creation has a special significance for the Catholic Church, particularly since Pope Francis established the 1st of September as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. 

The Season of Creation or Creation Time, is marked throughout the Christian world from 1 September to 4 October (Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi) and celebrates the joy of creation as well as encouraging awareness-raising initiatives to protect the natural environment.

Restoring Our Common Home

The theme for the Season of Creation 2021 is ‘Restoring Our Common Home’. During this season we are asked to join together to celebrate creation and protect our common home through prayer, reflection and action.

The global Christian family is called to awaken to the urgent need to heal our relationships with creation and with each other and to encourage our parish communities to do the same, “for we know that things can change!” (Laudato Si’, 13).  

This year we celebrate this season mindful of the fact that our world continues to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a devastating climate and biodiversity crisis. We look towards two UN Conferences in the Autumn, COP15 (on Biodiversity, due to take place in China) and COP24 (on climate change, Glasgow) in the hope that world leaders take the urgent action that is needed to Restore Our Common Home. Catholics are urged to sign the “Healthy Planet Healthy People” petition as a key action for this year’s Season of Creation.

This petition has been endorsed by the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development in the hope that millions of Catholics will raise their voices in the public sphere to help Restore Our Common Home in the run up to these vital UN Conferences. 

 

Resources from the Laudato Si Working Group of the Irish Bishops Conference have been developed for use by parishes and all other your and pastoral groups These resources can be accessed by Clicking Here

 

 

Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service CLG is currently recruiting volunteers to train as marriage preparation programme facilitators.

Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service CLG is currently recruiting volunteers to train as marriage preparation programme facilitators.

Accord is seeking registration of interest from those who have a positive attitude towards marriage in the Catholic Church and the enthusiasm to be part of a team supporting couples who are preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage.

Successful applicants will receive professional training and will be part of a team delivering marriage preparation programmes locally in accordance with best practice.

Contact Aisling on 01 505 3112 or by email to [email protected].

The closing date for receipt of registration of interest forms to be included in Selections for this year is Friday 27 August.

Additional information is available on www.accord.ie.

CLERGY APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH, EFFECTIVE 28 AUGUST 2021

CLERGY APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH

EFFECTIVE 28 AUGUST 2021

 

Archbishop Eamon Martin announces the following clergy appointments for the Archdiocese of Armagh, effective 28 August 2021.

Archbishop Eamon thanks the priests and deacons of the Archdiocese for their continued ministry and service and wishes well those who are taking up these new appointments.  He also thanks the people of the Archdiocese of Armagh for their ongoing prayers and support of their clergy.  He encourages them to welcome their new pastors in the coming weeks.

The Archbishop is deeply grateful to the Society of Mary (Marists) who are leaving Holy Family Parish in Dundalk after forty years of generous service to the local community.  He wishes well Fr Cormac McNamara, SM, Adm, and Fr Francis Corry, SM, CC, who are departing the parish.

The Archbishop is very grateful also to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) who, in addition to their ministry in St Joseph’s Parish, Dundalk, have agreed to serve Holy Family Parish for a fixed period.  The Archbishop has appointed Fr Derek Ryan, CSsR, CC, St Joseph’s, Dundalk, and Fr Richard Delahunty, CSsR, to be Administrator and Curate in Holy Family Parish, Dundalk, respectively.

Fr John Hughes, PE, CC, Moy (Clonfeacle), to retire, and to be priest-in-residence, Moy   

Fr Fergus Breslan, PE, Moy (Clonfeacle), retired, to be priest-in-residence, Middle Killeavy

Fr Eamonn McCamley, to assist in the parish of Drumglass, Killyman & Tullyniskin (Dungannon)

Fr Desmond Branigan, CC, Magherafelt, to be CC, St Peter’s, Drogheda

Fr Thomas McHugh, CC, Cathedral Parish, Armagh, to be (pro tem), Adm, Moy (Clonfeacle), and Adm, Eglish

Fr Barry Matthews, CC, St Peter’s, Drogheda, to be CC, Cathedral Parish, Armagh

Fr Juan Jesus Gonzalez Borrallo, newly ordained, to be CC, Magherafelt

Fr Callum Young, newly ordained, to be Assistant to the Rector, Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Dundalk

Deacon Stephen Wilson, newly ordained, to serve in the parishes of Knockbridge, Kilkerley & Louth

Deacon Colm Hagan, newly ordained, to serve in the parishes of Donaghmore, Pomeroy & Termonmaguirc

29 July 2021

 

 

Westminster has imposed an unjust law. Christians, and all people of good will, can never ignore the fact that unborn children are human beings worthy of protection

Statement by the Northern Catholic Bishops on the direction of the Secretary of State to introduce abortion services to Northern Ireland  

 

“We encourage everyone who believes in the equal right to life and compassionate care for a mother and her unborn child to ask local candidates and political parties to explain their position on these interventions and on this most fundamental of all issues.”

 

 

The decision last week by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis MP, to direct the NI Executive and Department of Health to make abortion services available in Northern Ireland by 21 March 2022, is gravely disquieting.  It is the latest in a line of decisions by the current Westminster Government which we believe threaten the fragile balance of relationships at the heart of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

Sadly, some of our local political parties seem content to welcome this unilateral move by Westminster on an issue which is of fundamental importance to local voters, while rightly challenging such unilateral impositions on other issues.

With many others, from a wide range of moral, philosophical and religious backgrounds, we have consistently held that the right to life of every person, irrespective of stage of development or ability, is the prior and essential right of all other human rights. Our shared search for peace is driven in no small part by our collective rejection of the brutality and demeaning of human dignity that occurs when the right to life is diminished in any way. Thankfully, we live in an age when sensitivity to the preciousness and fragility of all life on our planet, even in its most microscopic forms, is better understood and appreciated. The failure to extend this sensitivity and care to our own fellow human beings in the womb, as well as to mothers in pregnancy will, we believe, one day be seen as a grave moral blindness on the part of this generation and a profound dereliction of our responsibility to uphold the most basic human right of all –  the right to life.

In unilaterally imposing this direction on the local Northern Ireland Assembly to provide abortion services, it is as if the Westminster Government, and those local parties who have supported them, believe the answer to the issue of providing compassionate care for a woman and her unborn child in pregnancy can be framed simply and exclusively as a “healthcare issue”. Absent from the discussion however are the thousands of unborn children, who have no legal protection and whose humanity is excluded from the political equation. It is for this reason that the argument for the protection of all human life can never be abandoned or referred to human rights experts alone. Westminster has imposed an unjust law. Christians, and all people of good will, can never stand silently by and fail to raise their voices at any attempt to ignore completely the fact that unborn children are human beings worthy of protection.

As our society prepares in coming months to engage in the ultimate expression of democratic participation –  the election to our local Assembly –  we encourage all Catholics, and those share our view on the inviolability of all human life, to reflect carefully on the issues raised by this succession of unilateral impositions by the Westminster Government. We encourage everyone who believes in the equal right to life and compassionate care for a mother and her unborn child to ask local candidates and political parties to explain their position on these interventions and on this most fundamental of all issues

This statement was issued in the names of Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All-Ireland and Apostolic Administrator of Dromore; Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor; Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry; Bishop Larry Duffy, Bishop of Clogher; and, Bishop Michael Router Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh.

 

The Archdiocese of Armagh has Two Vacancies for Youth Ministry Coordinators

St Patrick’s Archdiocesan Trust Limited

VACANCY

Youth Ministry Coordinator x 2

Archdiocese of Armagh

 

[ 3 Year Fixed-Term Contract (subject to an 11 month Probationary Period)]

The Archdiocese of Armagh seeks to appoint two motivated and talented professionals, each to undertake the full-time roles of Youth Ministry Coordinator. The Youth Ministry Coordinators will work with the Diocesan Pastoral Team and be responsible for implementing the youth ministry element in the Diocesan Pastoral Plan. They will work with parishes and pastoral areas to meet the goals of the Armagh Diocesan Youth Commission’s (ADYC) Strategic Plan 2019-2024 ‘Encourage, Enable and Empower.’ The plan reaches out to all young people in the Archdiocese of Armagh to provide faith formation and to enable the development of peer ministry. This will involve developing a wide range of network communications with parishes, families, schools, and community organisations. This is an excellent opportunity and challenge for two experienced candidates to join our Diocesan Team.

The appointments will on a permanent full-time basis requiring 35 hours attendance each week, generally Monday-Friday. Flexibility in work pattern and hours worked will be requirements of these roles.

(Even though the Coordinators will work as part of a diocesan team, one will be based in the North and one in the South of the diocese.)

Starting salary: £24,982 (or € equivalent)

If interested in making an application for either of these posts, please download, complete and return an Application Form below. 

 Accompanying Job Description can also be found below.

Click Here For Job Description 

Click Here For Application and Monitoring Form

Closing date for receipt of completed applications is Friday 13 August 2021 at 5pm

St Patrick’s Archdiocesan Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer

 

Bishop Michael Router: 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time St. Peters Church, Drogheda. 100th Anniversary of the Signing of the Truce

Bishop Michael Router: Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

“100th Anniversary of the Signing of the Truce”

St. Peter’s Church, Drogheda, 11am on the 11th July 2021

 

 

 

The second reading of today’s Mass is taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The letter touches on the issue of living in a world where there are many differences between people. The author St. Paul was a Jew, but he was writing this letter to a gentile, non-Jewish, audience. He was trying to teach the Church in Ephesus that in Christ God had broken down the walls and barriers between people and has given us the means to overcome the hostility that can be present because of differing beliefs. The letter acknowledges that living with difference is not easy, it requires great effort, humility, gentleness, and patience. As the section of the letter read today reminds us, God adopts not a single group with one ethnic or religious identity, but he chooses and adopts a diverse group of people. Unity and equality will eventually be found under Christ.

It is a very appropriate message for today’s Mass on this the 100th Anniversary of the truce that brought to an end the War of Independence in Ireland. The truce was called on this date, July 11th, 1921, and it brought to an end a two-year conflict that, like many wars, was notable for its acts of brutality. It is also important for us to acknowledge today the role that devotion to St. Oliver Plunkett made to bring about peace and the beginning of a process that brought a long sought-after Irish freedom.

The months leading up to this day in 1921, where amongst the bloodiest in the war of independence. The IRA killed many civilians who they claimed were collaborators and traitors. On the other side the Black and Tans and the Auxiliary’s sought revenge for IRA attacks and did so in a very harsh and bloody way. These reprisals, and the general cruelty of these rogue British units, began to turn public opinion around the world in favour of Irish independence. There were many attempts at peace initiatives undertaken during the first six months of 1921 and some of the most notable ones were undertaken by church personnel such as Cardinal Logue of Armagh, Bishop Fogarty of Killaloe, and Archbishop Patrick Clune of Perth in Australia.

During 1921 many government buildings were destroyed around the country including numerous RIC barracks, courthouse’s, tax offices and other local government offices. The customs house was destroyed on the 25th May and this was a devastating blow to the administration of Ireland as most of the tax records and local government records for the country where kept there. These, among other smaller incidents, made Ireland ungovernable, and the war almost unwinnable, for the British. By July 1921 things were descending rapidly into chaos and there was a real risk of a blood bath. Over 1000 deaths alone were recorded from the beginning of the year and many people were beginning to suffer severe hardship.

Throughout the whole conflict the Church maintained a strong stance in opposition to the violence perpetrated by all sides, but also used its voice to put increased pressure on the British government to find a solution. Time and again, Catholic Bishops, both individually and collectively, asked for prayer and there was a huge response both at home and abroad to their request. Just a year before, in 1920, Saint Oliver Plunkett had been beatified, the final step before becoming a Saint. His beatification was a big occasion for the Irish and many people began praying to him for a cessation of violence and a renewal of peace. Their prayers finally and remarkably came to fruition with the coming into effect of a truce between the British Armed Forces and the IRA on the 11th July, the very first day that the feast of blessed St Oliver Plunkett was celebrated in Churches around the world. Many people came to realise that this was more than a coincidence and that in St. Oliver we had gained a powerful intercessor for peace in this land. Saint Oliver’s feast day changed to the July 1st after his canonization in 1975 and it is to be noted with joy that the first meeting of the new Northern Ireland Assembly, an essential element of the Good Friday Agreement, was held on 1st July 1998 the new Feastday. The sharing of power, symbolised by that event, has led to a greater level of cooperation between nationalists and loyalists in Northern Ireland and subsequently to a more stable peace.

As we celebrate the anniversary of the truce today and give thanks for all the progress that has been made over the past 24 years in particular, we have to be mindful that the peace in this island is still fragile. The truce, unfortunately, didn’t bring the hostilities to an end. A horrific civil war blew up within months and tensions in the years since have at times led to conflict, terrorism and murder most notably between 1969 and 1997. The reluctance over the years by all sides to accept a peaceful solution to the problem of finding a shared identity and purpose, have led to many innocent deaths and many shattered lives.

Violence achieves nothing. It is destructive and holds back genuine progress. The violence perpetrated from 1969 onwards held back the progress on civil rights that was being made in the late 1960’s and held back progress on this island for over thirty years. We pray to St. Oliver Plunkett today that those who still advocate violence or who excuse past atrocities will have a change of heart so that we can overcome our differences and know, as St. Paul reminds the Ephesians, the freedom that comes from such a change of heart and attitude.

Recent events have shown us that there is a long way to go if all the people of this island are to respect each other and live together without division or violence. All of us must strive to create a place that will be inclusive and welcoming. A united Ireland, if that is to become a reality, will have to be a place where religious and cultural differences are recognised and are protected not dismissed or ignored.

All of us who want to achieve peace and true freedom will need to be very vigilant and work hard to achieve God’s plan for us. In the gospel Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs to bring the good news of salvation to all. He anticipated that they would meet opposition as the enemies of truth and love are unfortunately many in this world. He gave them however, a very wise piece of advice. He told them if they faced opposition and hostility, they were to wipe the dust of their sandals and start all over again.

The road to genuine peace, which can only be achieved through the power of Christ and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will continue to be a difficult one but we must never give up. Today, through the intercession of St. Oliver Plunkett, we ask for the blessing of genuine peace in this country, a peace that will only come about when we respect the primacy of God and respect each other as his adopted sons and daughters.

+Bishop Michael Router 

 

Archbishop Eamon offers an opening message to the Irish Church Music Summer School 2021

Archbishop Eamon opens the Irish Church Music Summer School 2021

 

Archbishop Eamon had the pleasure of offering a message at the the opening of the The Irish Church Music Association’s  summer school 2021. This year’s Summer School is focusing in a special way on Psalms. The Psalms are poetic prayers, and the range of themes and emotions they express is extraordinary. As Pope Francis said recently, ‘in them, we encounter the entire gamut of human emotions, from praise, petition and joyful thanksgiving to anguished supplication for deliverance from life’s bitter disappointments and sorrows’.
 
The ICMA is a volunteer run organisation whose mission is to promote best practice in liturgy and music. They are based in the Centre for Liturgy in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
 
Each summer they hold a 4 day summer school, but this year due to the continued restrictions from COVID19 they  are instead holding a virtual event. It is just one hour each day and they are hoping that many people who normally cannot attend the summer school will join them.
 
The Summer School is a free event and will be broadcast on their Facebook Page, Youtube Channels and Website. The Summer School is open to choir members, cantors, instrumentalists and anyone else who feel they might enjoy these workshops.
 

For the first time ever, this year’s ICMA Summer School will be hosted online. This Virtual Summer School will run from Wednesday 7 July to Saturday 10 July. A live streamed workshop will be broadcast daily on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 8.00 pm, and on Saturday at 2.00 pm. The Summer School will close with the celebration of Mass, live-streamed from the College Chapel in Maynooth, at 3.00 pm on Saturday. There will be no charge for this year’s Summer School, though donations to defray the costs would be warmly appreciated. Further details of the Summer School can be found at the link below:

 
 
Even though it will be an unusual Summer School, most of the usual features are included in the programme – sung prayer each day, daily input on the theme for the week and, of course, the opportunity to explore new music. And even though they cannot gather everyone in Maynooth, they will be assembling a virtual choir to pre-record the closing song for the Summer School Eucharist. All members and friends of ICMA are welcome to be part of this effort as we unite our voices in praise

 

Year of Reflection and Prayer for the Archdiocese of Armagh Closes

Year of Reflection and Prayer in the Archdiocese of Armagh Closing Ceremony

 

The Year of Reflection and Prayer that began at the end of January 2020 came to a close with a closing ceremony yesterday evening in St. Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh.  The year was scheduled to conclude in February 2020 and amidst the Covid 19 pandemic a decision was taken to extend the year until the end of June 2020. 

 

The Year of Prayer and Reflection was an attempt to listen in the silence to what God was saying to us as individuals and as a faith community. It was not a time for big events, large gatherings, or attention-grabbing speeches, but a time to let God’s Spirit rest in us and to prepare us for the road ahead. 

Bishop Michael Router in his homily addressed those gathered in St. Patrick’s Cathedral noting that,

“In many ways it was a blessing that we launched the Year of Reflection and prayer when we did because, at that time, we didn’t know what lay ahead for us. Nothing could have prepared us for all that we have experienced over the past 15 months. In reality quiet reflection and prayer were often the only permitted responses.”

In his address Bishop Michael acknowledged the significant difficulties that all have experienced in the last eighteen months stating that, “The effective closure of most forms of social interaction, schools, workplaces, churches, and entertainment, is something that people younger than 80 years of age had only seen before in disaster movies.” 

Bishop Michael importantly spoke about the challenges and difficulties experienced by the Church prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic drawing attention to the Synodal Pathway invoked by Pope Francis. Drawing attention to the changes that Vatican II introduced Bishop Michael stated that these changes

“Prevented the Church from becoming a remnant of the past retreating into itself and becoming more and more distanced from people.” and that “Pope Francis has identified the model of synodality as a means of responding to the challenges and issues through a slow, yet ultimately more effective process of listening consultation and conversation” 

Whilst the Archdiocese is officially closing a ‘Year of Reflection and Prayer’ in the diocese the reflection and prayer never ends and will be an essential element of each step along the way. The next step will be to begin an active period of listening and consultation over the next two years as we prepare for a Diocesan Synodal Assembly in Autumn 2024. The final year before the Assembly will be spent analysing what we have learned through the consultation and conversation and working with the delegates, the elected and selected ‘Some’ from the parishes and other church bodies who will attend the actual Assembly itself.

During this phase they will bring the fruits of the listening, consultation, and conversation to the ‘One’ the bishop and make recommendation for a future diocesan plan. And as Bishop Michael stated “the principle of ‘All’, ‘Some’, and ‘One’ comes into effect and opens up responsibility for the ongoing mission of the Church to all the baptised.”

To assist us in this task of organising the consultation and preparation for the Assembly a core group from around the diocese has been formed and were commissioned at the ceremony in St. Patrick’s. They are predominantly members of the lay faithful, who will work alongside elected members of the diocesan clergy and female and male religious. This group,  will work together to establish the Synodal process here in the local Church of Armagh, a process, that will hopefully address some of the challenges that lie ahead for all of us who take our faith seriously.

As a local Church the Archdiocese of Armagh will also feed into the universal Churches synodal pathway leading to the Synod of bishops in Rome in 2023 and the island wide process that will culminate in a National Assembly or Assemblies in 2026. Over the coming years there will be widespread consultation with everyone inside and outside the Church.  This model of operating as a Church is for the long term it won’t simply be over or set aside when the actual physical Assemblies take place in Rome, Ireland or Armagh. 

Click here for the full text of Bishop Michael Router’s Homily 

 

Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Callum Douglas Young and Fr Juan Jesus Gonzalez Borrallo

Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Callum Douglas Young and Fr Juan Jesus Gonzalez Borrallo

 

In a joy filled ceremony Archbishop Eamon Martin ordained Fr. Callum Douglas Young and Fr Juan Jesus Gonzalez Borrallo as priests for the Archdiocese of Armagh on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Apostles in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral – Armagh on the 29th June 2021.     

Callum was born in London in 1991 and is the eldest child of  Neil and Bernadette Young. He has five younger brothers and sisters. He began his formation for the priesthood in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Dundalk in the year 2012 and was ordained deacon on 28th August 2020 and has been ministering in Newry Parish since October 2020.

As part of his formation, he spent some time in the Holy Land, UAE and Bahrain. Over the years, Callum has been on pastoral placement in the parishes of Cookstown, Coalisland and Newry.

Juan Jesus was born in 1991 and comes from El Repilado (Spain). He is the first child of Jose Antonio and Maria de las Nieves and has three younger siblings. He started his formation to the priesthood in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Dundalk in the year 2013 and was also ordained a deacon on 28th August 2020.

Juan Jesus has done pastoral placements in the parishes of Dungannon and Newry Cathedral. As part of his formation in the Seminary, he has been in mission in the Holy Land, Mozambique and Argentina and has been ministering in Moyraverty Parish since October 2020.

We ask that all throughout the Archdiocese continue to keep these two young men in their prayers.  May they have many years of grace filled ministry ahead of them.  

Ad Multos Annos!

Concert from St. Joseph’s Church Dundalk

Concert from St. Joseph’s Church Dundalk

A free to view streamed concert featuring Liam Lawton, Karl McGuckian, Malachy Cush and Tara Erraught is to be streamed from St Joseph’s Church Dundalk.

This will be broadcast from St. Joseph’s Church Dundalk on Sunday 27th June at 8pm.

The concert can be accessed via the following link

https://www.churchservices.tv/dundalk

 
 
 
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