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Welcome

Fáilte, Welcome

to the website for the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland

Bishop William Crean

23 June 2026

A Summer Gospel chapter-a-day programme took place 4 summers ago in 2022
Perhaps you might like to consider taking part in a 2026 summer programme

Each day via WhatsApp you will receive an audio recording of one chapter of the Gospel followed by a short commentary

The schedule is as follows:

Beginning
July 1st - Mark chapter 1
A chapter a day until
July 16th - Mark chapter 16
Then Gospel of Luke - July/ August
Then Gospel of John - August
Then Gospel of Matthew - beginning September 1st

Summer Gospel chapter a day programme

On Saturday 20th June, the date of the anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, Bishop William Crean celebrated Mass and blessed the Presiders Chair , Ambo and Crucifix in St. Mary’s Church, Carrigtwohill

A presentation was made by Carrigtwohill Parish to Bishop Crean on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee

Cake and refreshments were enjoyed by all!

Carrigtwohill 20th June 2026

16 June 2026

Holy Hour of Directed Adoration

Led by Fr. John Keane , Director of Eucharistic Adoration Holy Hour

Mitchelstown Parish Church - Monday June 29th at 7:30pm

All very welcome

Fr. John Keane

15 June 2026

St. Aloysius Summer Faith Camp 30th June - 3rd July

For Boys and Girls (5-14 yrs.)

It's a summer camp with a twist! It’s an opportunity for young people to develop confidence and character, and to know and experience the love of God through Sports, Arts & Crafts, Music, Dance, Drama, Prayer & Catechesis.

€50 for the first child & €30 per additional child from the same family!

Venue: Youth Community Centre, Mallow (Beside the swimming pool)
Days: Tuesday 30th June – Friday 3rd July 2026
Time: 9.30 am to 3pm

Registration forms available from CDYS Office, Mallow

For more information please contact Bernadette on 086-8031126

Summer Faith Camp 2026

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Latest Homily

21 June 2026 - Golden Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving

Latest Articles

June 2026
May 2026
- Cloyne/Aghada Pastoral Area - Changes to Mass Schedule June 2026
March 2026
- Fatima Pilgrimage 2026 - Carrigtwohill Parish
October 2025
- Bishop Crean meets Pope Leo
September 2025
- "Behold I'm doing a new thing" says the Lord (Isaiah 43)
February 2025
- Recent picture of St. Colman's Cathedral, Cobh. Co. Cork

Coram Fratribus

Sts Peter and Paul

You can find an English version by scrolling down a little.
Apg 12.1-11: Der Engel stieß Petrus in die Seite.
2 Tim 4.6-18: Mein Sohn, ich werde schon geopfert.
Mt 16.13-19: Du bist Petrus – der Fels.
Zur Vesper gestern sangen wir eine rührende Read More

Coram Fratribus

Sts Peter and Paul You can find an English version by scrolling down a little.
Apg 12.1-11: Der Engel stieß Petrus in die Seite.
2 Tim 4.6-18: Mein Sohn, ich werde schon geopfert.
Mt 16.13-19: Du bist Petrus – der Fels.
Zur Vesper gestern sangen wir eine rührende Antiphon. Sie berichtet von der vollkommenen Eintracht des Petrus und des Paulus: “Wie die herrlichen Apostel Christi sich zu Lebzeiten liebten, wurden sie auch im Tod nicht von einander getrennt.”
Wahr ist diese Darstellung.
Zugleich ist sie idealisiert — aber manchmal sieht man halt im Nachhinein ein, dass ein Ideal dabei war, sich zu verkörpern in vergangenen Erfahrungen die uns damals einfach nervend oder konfliktgeladen erschienen.
Im Galaterbrief, geschrieben ungefähr fünfzehn Jahre nach der Auferstehung Christi, erzählt Paulus schlicht von einem öffentlichen Streit zwischen Petrus und ihm. “Als Kephas”, schreibt er, “nach Antiochia gekommen war, habe ich ihm ins Angesicht widerstanden, weil er sich ins Unrecht gesetzt hatte.”
Es ging um die Streitfrage des noch nicht geklärten Status der bekehrten Heiden.
Sollte ein frommer Jude mit solchen Menschen Mahlzeiten einnehmen oder nicht? Petrus war unsicher. Eine Weile aß er mit Nicht-Juden zusammen. Dann kamen Glaubensgenossen strenger Observanz aus Jerusalem und sagten: “Du darfst das nicht!” Petrus zog sich zurück. Dann wurde Paulus entsetzt und nannte ihn einen Heuchler.
Ich finde es bemerkenswert, dass die Kirche diese Uneinigkeit der zwei Apostel nie geleugnet hat. Ganz im Gegenteil: Sie machte daraus einen topos zur Betrachtung.
Vor wenigen Tagen befand ich mich in Mailand vor einem wunderbaren Gemälde in der Pinacoteca di Brera. Das Bild, von Guido Reni, trägt den Titel: “Paulus tadelt den reuigen Petrus”. Paulus steht aufrecht. In der linken Hand hält er ein dickes Buch. Mit der rechten gestikuliert er. Petrus, sitzend, stützt seinen Kopf mit der rechten, während er die linke Hand, mit ausgestreckten Fingern, auf dem Knie hält, fragend. Sein Emblem, der Schlüssel des Himmelreiches, liegt auf dem Boden neben ihm.
Man sieht: der Schlüssel ist ihm anvertraut, ist aber nicht sein Besitz. Er soll ihn verwenden im Namen des Herrn, weiss aber im Moment nicht ganz wie.
Keine Aggression ist zu sehen im Bild, nur eine ernste Auseinandersetzung.
Reni hat es gemalt im Jahre 1609. Die Gegenreformation war in Bewegung. Eine ultramontane Tendenz regte sich im europäischen Katholizismus. Reni selbst war ein von mehreren Päpsten beauftragten Künstler. Die Autorität von Petrus und seinen Nachfolgern war ihm selbstverständlich. Dennoch stellte er den König der Apostel dar in einem Zustand von Ratlosigkeit. Und niemand wurde deswegen geschockt.
Petrus hatte jahrelang nahe an Christus gelebt. Er hatte des Herrn Lehre gehört, seine Wundertaten gesehen, seine inneren Kämpfe gespürt. Er hatte Jesus verraten. Zu Ostern wurde er vergeben. Er wusste was Gnade heisst. Zugleich nahm er sich seine vom Auferstandenen gegebene Aufgabe ernst: “Weide meine Lämmer!” Wie sollte er dann neu entscheiden können, wer zur Herde Jesu gehört?
Mit Paulus sah es anders aus. Ihm, dem erstmaligen Behüter pharisäischer Orthodoxie, war, wie er es den Galatern erklärte, direkt von Gott eine Mission auferlegt worden: die Einverleibung der Heiden in den mystischen Leib Christi damit die Kirche im radikalsten Sinne katholisch werde, wahrhaft universell und alle Völker umarmend.
Petrus stand für das preislose Erbe erinnerter Überlieferung. Paulus stand für das ständig Neue, das der Lebendige, immer vorwärts schauende Gott in der Kirche erwirkt.
Es musste zu einer Konfrontation kommen, nicht aber im Sinne eines Zwistes.
Denn beide Perspektive sind wertvoll und unentbehrlich. Sie bestehen, einander voraussetzend, in dialektischer Spannung. Katholisch sein heisst, eine solche Spannung aushalten zu können, sie zu lieben und durch sie, in Christus, zu wachsen.
Diese Spannung macht die Kirche erkennbar als heilig und apostolisch jetzt. Sie schützt uns, die Gläubigen, vor der eigenen Zumutung. Sie kann lebensspendende Demut beibringen. Denn durch sie entdecken wir, Gott ist der immerwährend handelnde, schaffende Subjekt der Kirche. Seine Gedanken sind nicht immer die unseren — unendlich grösser, schöner und verheissungsvoller sind sie, die Wirklichkeit verwandelnd, die Schöpfung erneuernd, die Menschheit heiligend.
Gut ist es, daran erinnert zu werden jetzt, da einige, die sich katholisch nennen, Apostolizität zu einem Gepäckstück reduzieren, das sie, nicht ohne Selbstzufriedenheit, rumschleppen in einem versiegelten Koffer, sicher dass sie, und nur sie, die Wahrheit besitzen, als ob sie sich besitzen liesse und nicht allen menschlichen Maß überströmt. Eine solche Stellungnahme ist eine faktische Kapitulation an genau die Art von Subjekt-ivismus die sie zu verachten behauptet. Ja, absurd ist der Mensch, sich selbst überlassen.
Der Disput den Petrus und Paulus in Antiochia führten zeigt uns, es gibt nicht immer auf neue Fragen aufgelagerte Antworten. Manchmal müssen in der Kirche um Antworten gerungen werden. Das apostolische Depositum entfaltet sich durch das Ringen wenn sich die Wahrheit in Liebe äussert.
Peter und Paulus konnten streiten weil sie sich liebten und der Liebe Christi nichts vorzogen. Das Leben beider endete in einem vollkommenen, freien Opfer für di Kirche.
Darin bewährt sich ihre apostolische Autorität. An diesem Kriterium können wir selbst unsere christliche Glaubwürdigkeit ziemlich sicher prüfen.
***
At vespers last night we sang a touching antiphon. It speaks of the perfect understanding that united Peter and Paul: ‘Even as the glorious Apostles of Christ loved each other while they lived, they were not separated in death.’
This is a true account.
At the same time it is idealised. But isn’t that how it is? We sometimes see in retrospect that an ideal was taking flesh in past experience that, at the time, seemed to us simply annoying and conflictual.
In the letter to the Galatians, written fifteen years or so after Christ’s resurrection, Paul matter-of-factly recounts a public controversy between Peter and himself.
‘When Cephas came to Antioch’, he wrote, ‘I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned’.
At stake was the still unresolved question of the status of converted gentiles.
Should, indeed could, a devout Jew take meals with such people, or not?
Peter was unsure. For a while he ate with non-Jews. Then some companions of strict observance came from Jerusalem and said: ‘You can’t!’ Peter withdrew. Then Paul was peeved, and called Peter a hypocrite.
I find it remarkable that the Church has never dissembled this disagreement between the two Apostles. On the contrary: she made of it a topos for reflection.
A few days ago I found myself in Milan before a magnificent painting in the Pinacoteca di Brera. The picture, painted by Guido Reni, is entitled: ‘Paul Rebukes the Penitent Peter.’ Paul stand upright. He holds a fat book in his left hand while gesticulating with the right. Peter, seated, supports his head with his right hand. His left rests on his knee with fingers extended in a gesture of questioning. His emblem, the key to the kingdom, lies on the ground next to him.
We realise that the key, for being entrusted to him, is not his possession. He is to use it in the name of the Lord, but there and then doesn’t quite know how.
There is no aggression to be seen in the picture, only earnest confrontation.
Reni painted it in 1609. The Counter-Reformation was in full swing. An ultramontane tendency marked European Catholicism. Reni had had works commissioned by popes. He took the authority of Peter and his successors for granted.
Yet he represented the King of the Apostles in a state of perplexity. And no one was scandalised.
Peter had lived close to Christ for years. He had heard the Lord’s teaching, watched his miracles, felt his inner battles. He had betrayed Jesus. At Easter he had been forgiven. He knew what grace is about. At the same time he took seriously the task entrusted him by the Risen One: ‘Feed my lambs!’ Who was he to decide who did and did not belong to the Lord’s flock?
Paul is a different kettle of fish. To him, as he explains to the Galatians, God had directly given a specific mission: that of incorporating the gentiles into the mystical Body of Christ so that the Church might be, in the radical sense, Catholic, truly universal, embracing all peoples.
Peter stood for the priceless inheritance of remembered tradition. Paul stood for the newness that the living, ever forward-looking Lord realises in his Church.
It had to come to a confrontation, but not in the sense of a fight.
For both perspectives, the Petrine and the Pauline, are valuable, indispensable. Presupposing each other, they subsist in dialectic tension. To be a Catholic is to sustain such tension, to learn to love it so as, through it, to grow to full maturity in Christ.
This tension makes the Church recognisable now as holy and apostolic.
It protects us, her members, from our own presumption. It can be a source of life-giving humility. For through it we discover that God remains the acting, creative Subject of the Church. His thoughts are not always ours. They are infinitely greater, lovelier, and fuller of promise. They can transform reality, renew creation, sanctify mankind.
It is good to be reminded of this right now, when some who call themselves Catholic do reduce apostolicity to a piece of luggage they carry around, not without a degree of self-satisfaction, in a sealed suitcase, certain that they, and only they, possess the truth — as if the truth could be possess and did not exceed every human measure. Such a position is in fact a capitulation to exactly the kind of subjectivism it professes to repudiate. How absurd human beings can become, surrendered to themselves.
The disputation of Peter and Paul in Antioch shows us this: there are not always ready-made answers to new questions. In the Church we must sometimes struggle to find answers. That is how the apostolic deposit unfolds, as the truth utters itself in love. Peter and Paul could risk conflict because they loved each other, and preferred nothing on earth to Christ’s love.
The life of both culminated in a perfect, freely given offering of self for the sake of the Church. That is how their apostolic authority was borne out.
By that same criterion we can unfailingly test the degree of our own Christian credibility.

Coram Fratribus

Freedom to Move ‘All of us want to be free! We tend to assume that freedom is intrinsic to us, that we are free when we can do what we like, unrestrained. But is this assumption really brought out by experience? I’d say no. Freedom, we increasingly come to discover, has to be learnt. This fact concerning the life of the soul can be grasped analogously if we consider the way in which we train our bodies. Think of the fitness studios that surround us everywhere. We take it for granted that our bodies will acquire strength and form gradually. Meanwhile, perseverance and sweat are required. Think of the professional dancer. No one thinks they can just drift into Covent Garden and take the lead in Swan Lake. Years of relentless labour are required to acquire seemingly effortless freedom of movement. Such labour is not about denying other forms of expression; it’s about enabling beautiful movement.’ From a recent talk at St Patrick’s, Soho, now available on YouTube.

Coram Fratribus

School of Athens Raphael’s School of Athens in the Apostolic Palace in Rome is endlessly fascinating, yet there is something almost more moving about seeing the cartoons on display in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The artist comes very close when you can trace individual pen-strokes. There is such perfection of balance in the whole. I was struck by this detail, which I am not sure I’d noticed before. These two figures are not representations of historical personages or contemporary characters. They embody the type of a pair: that of the teacher and pupil. The pupil is absorbed in his reading. He may be in the process of underlining something, or putting glossa in the margin. The teacher does not impose himself, but accompanies the pupil’s exploration, at hand to answer questions or to correct a mistaken reading. One of the best teachers I have had once told me that a teacher’s chief task is to make himself superfluous, providing his pupil with the knowledge, wisdom, and tools to learn and research responsibly on his own. Raphael somehow shows this process at work.

Coram Fratribus

Revelation A few days ago, Mother Christiana Reemts, the abbess of Mariendonk, presented this reflection: “Nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known’ (Matthew 10.26). Is this a threat or a promise? Perhaps a bit of both. In every life, every family, every community, there are secrets one would never want to be made known because one is ashamed of them and fears losing face. At the same time I see how exhausting it is to keep the lid on the pot. In the case of some people, this exercise drains all their vital energy. How freeing it can be when this, suddenly, is no longer necessary. Still, it is quite right not to tell everybody everything. People who constantly lay bare their innermost selves rarely serve the cause of truth. Often enough, they are merely trying to make themselves seem important.’

Coram Fratribus

Madness The aria Il dolce suono from the last act of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) must be one of the most realistic depictions of insanity in musical drama alongside the madness scene from Giselle (1841). In both works, a woman has been crossed in love. The stakes, though, are different. Giselle discovers she has been lied to. The man she had thought of as her fiancé turns out to be committed to someone else. Lucia has been forced to marry a man she does not love to benefit her penniless brother, the villain of the piece. Donizetti renders Lucia’s departure from her senses by means of extraordinary orchestration featuring a glass harmonica. The sound of it is at once beautiful and profoundly disturbing. It can draw goose bumps forth even from prepared listeners. We are brought to a depth of experience where wounded affection breaks down, or overrules, rationality. We don’t talk about those depths much now. It is striking that nineteenth-century drama was prepared to face them so honestly.

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Summer Gospel chapter a day Programme
Hello everyone
Fr John McCarthy here
A Summer Gospel chapter-a-day programme took place 4 summers ago in 2022.
Perhaps you might like to consider taking part in a 2026 summer programme
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Summer Gospel chapter a day programme 2026

A Summer Gospel chapter-a-day programme took place 4 summers ago in 2022
Perhaps you might like to consider taking part in a 2026 summer programme

Carrigtwohill Parish - 20th June 2026

On Saturday 20th June, the date of the anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, Bishop William Crean celebrated Mass and blessed the Presiders Chair , Ambo and Crucifix in St. Mary’s Church, Carrigtwohill