A great crowd turned out for the 72nd Annual Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption which took place at the Lee Road Grotto.
Bishop Emeritus John Buckley was the Main Celebrant, and he was joined by Fr Cian O’Sullivan, Fr Aidan Vaughan OFM Cap, Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC, Fr Damian O’Mahony, Fr Marius O’Reilly, Fr Greg Howard, Fr Seán O’Sullivan, and Msgr Kevin O’Callaghan.

Servers for the Mass were Alan McNamara and Emmanuel Onyedikachukuwu, seminarians for the Diocese.

A big thank you to the organising committee for their great work in organising this annual Mass.

Bishop Emeritus John Buckley with concelebrants and Mass Servers at the Lee Road Grotto.

The Cork and Ross pilgrims are continuing to have a joyous and blessed time at World Youth Day.

On Wednesday, the group travelled to the Irish Rise Up Meeting, which is the world youth day model of catechesis. The biblical theme for
Wednesday’s catechesis was ‘Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country’ (Luke 1:39) and the topic for reflection was ‘integral ecology’.

In the evening, the pilgrims joined all the Irish Pilgrims to attend Evening Prayer. Sarah Ryan-Purcell and Roger Power from the Cork and Ross group gave a beautiful reflection on St Finbarr and brought holy water from Gougane Barra to be mixed with water from the four provinces of Ireland.

Pope Francis arrived safely in Lisbon yesterday, and the Cork and Ross pilgrims will see him today at the official welcome ceremony.

The Cork & Ross pilgrims going to World Youth Day have completed their final preparations.

They met at Mardyke House in Cork on Monday 10th July for their final preparatory meeting ahead of World Youth Day in Lisbon.

The evening started with the group enjoying some delicious pizza together, followed by a presentation on the practicalities and ​programme of events for World Youth Day. The evening ended with Compline and Examen prayer led by Bishop Fintan Gavin.

The group of forty young people are looking forward to travelling to Lisbon with Bishop Fintan at the end of the month for a week of prayer, worship, and celebration of the Catholic faith.

World Youth Day Pilgrims Roger Power, Fr Marius O’Reilly and Thomas Ferreira.

On the weekend of 24th/25th June, Bishop Fintan Gavin visited Gurranabraher Parish where he met parishioners and viewed the administration of the parish.

He celebrated the 5.30pm Mass on the Saturday and the 11.30am on the Sunday. In his homily at both Masses he mentioned “declining numbers attending worship and the shortage of priests” necessitating the creation of ‘Families of Parishes’.

It is hoped that with the collaboration of priests and parishioners from surrounding parishes working together a new springtime would arise for the Church.

At the end of the Mass on the Sunday morning, Bishop Fintan presented two young parishioners from Gurranabraher, Adam Sorenson and Paul Sunday as well as James O’Connor, a young man from Douglas Parish, with the Pope John Paul II Gold Medal Merit Award for their constancy and commitment to specified tasks in the Church. With the sun barely shining it was still a momentous weekend for Gurranabraher Parish

Bishop Fintan with Fr. Tomás Walsh SMA Co-PP with parishioners after Mass in Gurranabraher.

James O’Connor, Paul Sunday and Adam Sorenson who received the John Paul II Gold Medal Awards from Bishop Fintan.