- Council for Marriage and the Family Conference in June
- Vocations Sunday 2014
- The Church celebrates two new saints
- News Snippets: RTÉ Beyond Belief special programme on the Canonisations; Open Day at the National Seminary; World Communications Day 2014; Irish Church Music Association Summer School and information on new feature articles on the ACCORD website.
- Pope Francis tweet of the month
Conference: Marriage and Family at the Heart of the Parish
The Council for Marriage and the Family of the Irish Bishops’ Conference will host a one-day conference on Saturday 14 June on the theme ‘Marriage and Family at the Heart of the Parish’. The conference is offered to leaders in parishes and dioceses, and others exercising faith and pastoral leadership, including parents, grandparents, teachers, members of parish pastoral councils as well as other groups and organisations serving the Church’s mission. The conference seeks to (i) explore the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation, (ii) explore how the parish community supports families in their Christian calling to share their faith and (iii) inform the work of the Council for Marriage and the Family.
Keynote speaker will be Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin. Also speaking will be Bishop Liam MacDaid, Bishop of Clogher and Chair of the Council for Marriage and the Family, Dr Tony Fahey, Professor of Social Policy, School of Applied Social Science, UCD and Colette Furlong, Catechist with Sligo Parishes. Booking for the conference can be made by email to the following address: [email protected] or by calling 087 622 0349.
The Church celebrates two new saints
A special web feature is available on www.cathlicbishops.ie to mark the canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. This web feature details: (i) The process of becoming a Saint (ii) The miracles attributed to Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II (iii) Their lives and ministry (iv) Events in Ireland to coincide with the canonisations and (v) Special commemorative booklets from Veritas.
Vocations Sunday 2014
The World Day of Prayer for Vocations will be celebrated on Sunday 11 May 2014 on the theme ’Vocations: Witness to the Truth’. The Council for Vocations of the Irish Bishops’ Conference has made available new video and text resources for Vocations Sunday which include a new ‘Day in the Life’ series following five people in their different vocations to priesthood and religious life. Mass will be broadcast from RTÉ’s Donnybrook studios for Vocations Sunday. The celebrant will be the new Bishop of Derry, Bishop Donal McKeown. See www.vocations.ie for more information on these resources and the Vocations Sunday Mass.
News SNIPPETS
- Bishop John Fleming, Bishop of Killala, will be a panellist on a special Beyond Belief programme – The New Saints’ on the canonisations, which will be broadcast on RTÉ One television at 10:30pm on 27 April next.
- An Open Day will take place at the National Seminary, Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth on Saturday 3 May. Men discerning a vocation to diocesan priesthood. See details on www.maynoothcollege.ie/seminary
- World Communications Day will be celebrated on Sunday 1 June 2014 on the theme ‘Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture of Encounter’.
- The Irish Church Music Association Summer School takes place in Maynooth from 3 – 6 July 2014 on the theme ‘The Joy of the Gospel’. See website for more information: churchmusicassociation.com
- Please see www.accord.ie for new articles on marriage and relationship matters such as: (i) Why Commitment Matters and (ii) Work and Marriage: Maintaining the Balance, and (iii) Preparation for sacramental marriage.
Pope Francis’ Tweet of the Month: Only trust in God can transform doubts into certainty, evil into good, night into radiant dawn. Follow Pope Francis @Pontifex
Produced by the Catholic Communications Office. For further information and contact details see www.catholicbishops.ie
