Welcome, Fáilte - Diocese of Cloyne

Light a Candle at St Colman's from 1 Dec 2024

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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

Carrigtwohill Parish Pilgrimage to Fatima 7th - 14th September 2026

Spiritual Director: Fr. Patrick Winkle

Direct return flights from Cork to Faro, with Bus to and from Fatima included
Full Board - breakfast, lunch and dinner each day
7 nights Hotel Steyler
Limited number of places
€1045 (single supplement extra) - limited single rooms, insurance is also extra
20kg baggage included with Aer Lingus flight.
Guided tours and full spiritual programme

Please make enquires to Fr. Patrick Winkle 021-4882439 or Joe Walsh Tours 021-2427190 or 01-2410800
Or book direct online with Joe Walsh Tours

2026 CARRIGTWOHILL PATRICK WINKLE 07 SEP CORK FARO Fatima Pilgrimage 2026

04 October 2025

Bishop William Crean meets Pope Leo on recent pilgrimage to Rome

Watch this short video clip

Bishop Crean meets Pope Leo

Pastoral letter from Bishop William Crean

on pastoral planning for the future

My dear people,

To live is to change, is a pearl of wisdom from St. John Henry Newman, a convert to the Catholic faith in the 19th Century. To live in the 21st Century is an experience of constant change, social, cultural and technological. Viewing “Reeling in the Years,” the television series depicting life in former times is a dramatic reminder of the extent of the change we have experienced.

The Church whose life and presence within our communities and parish has had to adjust to and
manage the change taking place in society. One particular pattern has been evident for some years
now is the decline both in profession of Christian faith and its practice through the attendance at Holy Mass,
which, for the believer, is an obligation in faith. The consequence of this generational shift from family and
parish community attendance has seen a similar decline in responding to the call to Priesthood and Religious life. Despite this pattern in the Diocese of Cloyne, in all the parishes there are faithful practicing prayer congregations who witness to and support one another in faith.

Pastoral Letter

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9th August 2026 - Courage! It is I!

Latest Articles

June 2026
- Summer Gospel chapter a day programme 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
October 2024
- Light a Candle at St. Colman's Cathedral

Coram Fratribus

Maximus Confessor

This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Der heilige Maximus, gestorben zehn Jahre vor der Geburt von Bonifatius, dem Apostel Deutschlands, war ein subtiler Theologe, ein Read More

Coram Fratribus

Correction

This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Mt 18.15-20: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault.
Die correctio fraterna ist eine delikate Read More

Coram Fratribus

St Clare

This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Die heilige Klara verschwindet leicht im Schatten des Heiligen Franziskus. So hätte sie es wohl gerne. Sie war bescheiden Read More

Coram Fratribus

St Laurence

This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Der heilige Diakon Laurentius, ein Mann spanischen Ursprungs, war ein Märtyrer der Kirche in Rom des 4. Jahrhunderts.
Seine Leidensgeschichte Read More

Coram Fratribus

Maximus Confessor This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Der heilige Maximus, gestorben zehn Jahre vor der Geburt von Bonifatius, dem Apostel Deutschlands, war ein subtiler Theologe, ein Meister der Kontemplation. Leicht stellt man sich ihn vor ruhig sitzend im Elfenbeinturm, gegen den Horizont schauend.
Sein Leben war aber bewegt.
In seinen Dreißigern war er Sekretär des Kaisers Heraklitos. Er sah aber ein, der Kaiser navigierte schlecht auf dem aufgewühlten Meer des Kirchenstreites zum Thema des Monotheletismus. Maximus zog sich von der Politik aus und ging ins Kloster. Das wäre wohl das Ende seiner öffentlichen Karriere, wäre er weniger gewissenhaft gewesen.
Maximus hegte aber die Überzeugung, dass der Monotheletismus das Wesen selbst vom christlichen Glauben drohte. Er verstand was auf dem Spiel stand – das taten die meisten Bischöfe nicht – und konnte nicht anders: er musste die rechte Lehre verteidigen.
So begann ein Leben des ständigen Pilgerns im Exil.
Im Osten wurde Maximus von kirchlicher Seite missbilligt. Er musste in den Westen. Er besuchte Kreta, wohnte eine Zeit in Ägypten, weilte in Nord-Afrika, kam endlich nach Rom. In den Päpsten Theodor und Martin fand er theologische Alliierte.
Am lateranischen Konzil im 649, wo Maximus teilnahm, wurde der Monotheletismus verdammte, was den damaligen Kaiser, Constans II, wütend machte. Er ließ Maximus verhaften und verfügte eine fürchterliche Strafe: seine Zunge und seine rechte Hand, womit er schrieb, wurden abgeschnitten. Maximus starb am 13. Oktober 662.
Warum war ihm die Frage des Monotheletismus so wichtig?
Denn wenn der Sohn Gottes nur einen einzigen göttlichen Willen hat, hat er nicht den ganzen Menschen erlöst und geheiligt; dann bleibt er uns fern, und wir dürfen nicht hoffen, ihm ähnlich zu werden.
Um die Integrität des Heilsplans Gottes zu verteidigen hat Maximus alles geopfert. Ein verwässertes Christentum, das sah er ein, hat der Welt nichts zu sagen.
Sein Beispiel ist eine heilsame Herausforderung in Zeiten theologischer Beliebigkeit.
Dazu sagt es uns Folgendes: die Grenzen zwischen Orient und Okzident waren in der alten Kirche keineswegs kategorisch. Das Bekenntnis von Maximus spricht auch von kirchlicher Einheit. Mögen wir den Weg dazu finden durch die kompromisslose Suche der Wahrheit in der Liebe.
***
St Maximus, who died ten years ago or so before the birth of St Boniface, the Apostle to the Germans, was a subtle theologian, a master of contemplation. We can easily imagine him seated in an ivory tower, looking rapturously out towards the horizon.
His life, meanwhile, was exceptionally turbulent.
In his thirties he was secretary to the emperor Heraclitos. He was well aware that the emperor navigated poorly on the raging sea of the Monotheletist schism. Maximus withdrew from politics and became a monk. That would have been the last we heard of him, had he been a man of lesser integrity.
Maximus was convinced that Monotheletism threatened the very essence of Christian life and faith. He understood the stakes involved — which is more than what most bishops did — and could do nothing else: he had do stand up for orthodoxy.
Thus began a life of exile and constant travel.
In the East, Maximus was despised by the Church’s establishment. He had to travel westward. He visited Crete, lived in Egypt for a while, stayed in North Africa, then eventually came to Rome. He found theological allies in the popes Theodore and Martin.
At the Lateran Council of 649, in which Maximus participated, Monotheletism was condemned as heresy. This enraged the emperor, Constans II. He had Maximus put in gaol and submitted him to awful punishment. His tongue was cut out. His right hand, his writing hand, was lopped off. Maximus died on 13 August 662.
Why was the issue of Monotheletism so important to Maximus that he risked, and gave, everything for it?
Because if the Son of God has nothing but a single divine will, then he has not healed and hallowed all of man; then Christ remains somehow aloof from us, and we may not hope to become like him.
Maximus saw clearly that a watered-down Christian creed had nothing to offer the world.
His example represents a salutary challenge at times when theology abandons precision and takes cavalier liberties with the faith’s deposit.
In addition his example teaches us this: in the ancient Church, the lines between ‘East’ and ‘West’ were not categorical. Maximus’s confession speaks not least of Christian unity. May we find our way to it through an uncompromising search for truth, conducted always in love.

Coram Fratribus

Correction This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Mt 18.15-20: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault.
Die correctio fraterna ist eine delikate Übung. Sie gehört, wie wir gerade hörten, zu den evangelischen Geboten. Es ist also keine Option, sie einfach beiseite zu lassen.
Richtig ausgelebt kann sie zum Blühen einer christlichen Gemeinschaft führen. Im Kloster wollen wir alle dem selben Weg folgen, dem Weg zur Wahrheit und Freiheit im Herrn. Auf diesem Weg sind wir einer Praxis verpflichtet; ja, bei unserer Profess versprachen wir voll Freude, vor Gott und der Kirche, dieser Praxis treu zu bleiben.
Wenn ich also vom rechten Weg schweife, aus Müdigkeit, Vergessenheit oder Faulheit, ist es mir hilfreich wenn ein Mitbruder mir sagt: ‘Du, gehst Du so weiter kommst Du nicht beim erwünschten Ziel an, dann irrst Du nur alleine rum im dunklen Wald.’
Die Gefahr besteht aber, dass meines Bruders Schweifen mich mehr beschäftigt als mein eigenes.
Die correctio lässt sich instrumentalisieren als Ausdruck meiner relationellen Frustrationen, meiner Eifersucht oder meiner passiven Aggression.
Deshalb geben uns die Väter einen verlässlichen Rat. Nachdem sie die correctio fraterna als evangelische Tugend gepriesen haben, sagen sie: ‘Sei aber vorsichtig! Prüfe zuerst Dein eigenes Herz. Findest Du dort die geringste Spur von Ärger oder Leidenschaft, sprich kein Wort zu Deinem Bruder. Denn die Wahrheit die Du sagen willst, ist nicht mit Liebe gewürzt. Sie wird deswegen nur Schaden verursachen, ihm und Dir.’
Der Rat bleibt gültig. Sei unser Wort immer ein wahres, klares, aber nie ein bitteres, hartes.
***
Fraternal correction is a delicate business. As we have just heard, it is a Gospel commandment. It’s no option, therefore, simply to leave it to one side.
Lived well, it can aid the flourishing of a Christian community. In the monastery, we all want to follow the same way, the way to freedom and truth in the Lord. We have obliged ourselves to follow certain practices. On the day of our profession we joyfully promised, before God and the Church, to stay faithful to these practices until death.
In consequence, if I start straying from the way, whether out of fatigue, absentmindedness, or sloth, and my brother says to me, ‘Listen: if you carry on like this, you won’t reach the goal you set out to reach, you’ll get yourself lost wandering round and round out in dark woods’, then he does me a tremendous service.
There’s always a risk, though, that my brother’s straying will preoccupy me more than my own.
Fraternal correction can be instrumentalised as an expression of my relational frustration, my jealousy, or my passive aggression.
That is why the Fathers give us a precious counsel. After praising fraternal correction as an evangelical virtue, they say: ‘Nonetheless, be careful! First, test your heart. I you find in it the least trace of anger or noxious passion, say no word to your brother. The truth you wish to express has not been salted with love. Therefore it will bring nothing but harm, first to your brother, then to you.’
That counsel remains valid. May our words always be clear and true, but never cutting and harsh.

Coram Fratribus

St Clare This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Die heilige Klara verschwindet leicht im Schatten des Heiligen Franziskus. So hätte sie es wohl gerne. Sie war bescheiden – aber hochbegabt. Sie hat der Kirche ein ganz persönliches Vermächtnis überlassen.
Jeder weiß, wie Klara für das Privileg der Armut kämpfte, damit die Klarissen völlig von der Vorsehung Gottes leben könnten, ohne Vermögen.
Man sieht darin ein Beispiel franziskanischer Askese. Zwar zurecht; aber Klaras Motivation hatte tiefere Wurzeln.
Sie gründete auf eine lange Betrachtung der Menschwerdung Gottes. Die Bewusstheit dass der Herr der Engelscharen, der Schöpfer des Himmels und der Erde, sich bedingungslos, und mit vollkommener Freiheit, der Begrenzung eines einfachen menschlichen Daseins aussetzte, sich selbst hingebend bis zum Tod am Kreuze, hat Klaras Seele ihre besondere Form geschenkt.
Die Armut Christi, hat sie eingesehen, hing mit seiner unergründlichen Einsamkeit zusammen, denn wer kann sich vorstellen wie allein der Sohn Gottes gewesen sein muss auf Erden, von allen missverstanden, von keinem in seines Wesens Mysterium gekannt?
Klara wollte den Heiland in dieser Einsamkeit begleiten, denn dort, war sie sich sicher, ist der Ursprung jeder wahren communio. Die italienische Historikerin Chiara Frugoni hat ein schönes, gelehrtes Buch über Klara geschrieben mit dem Titel ‘Una solitudine abitata‘, ‘Eine belebte Einsamkeit’.
In diesem Satz finden wir, so denke ich, den Deutungsschlüssel zu Klaras Leben und Werk.
***
St Clare easily disappears in the shadow of St Francis. She wouldn’t mind, I think. She was a profoundly modest person, for being a highly gifted one. She has left the Church a heritage uniquely her own.
Everyone knows how she had to battle for the privilege of poverty, so that her sisters, the Poor Clares, might live entirely on providence, amassing no capital of their own.
We see in this endeavour an example of Franciscan ascesis. We do so rightly, but Clare’s motivation had deep roots.
What formed her soul was consciousness of the fact that the Lord of the angelic hosts, the Creator of heaven and earth, had unconditionally, with perfect freedom, exposed himself to all the limitation of human existence, pouring himself out even unto death, death on the cross.
She saw that Christ’s poverty was part and parcel of his aloneness. Indeed, who can possibly probe the extent to which the Son of God was alone, misunderstood by all, known by none in the mystery of his Being?
Clare wished to keep the Redeemer company in this aloneness. Only there, she was convinced, can the source be found of true communion. The Italian historian Chiara Frugoni has written a beautiful, learned book about Clare with the title, Una solitudine abitata, ‘An Inhabited Aloneness’.
I’d say we can find, in that phrase, the hermeneutic key to Clare’s life and work.

Coram Fratribus

St Laurence This homily was given at the monastery of Bethlehem at Marienheide. You can find an English version by scrolling down a bit.
Der heilige Diakon Laurentius, ein Mann spanischen Ursprungs, war ein Märtyrer der Kirche in Rom des 4. Jahrhunderts.
Seine Leidensgeschichte ist bekannt. Die Kunst hat uns vertraut gemacht mit dem Grat auf dem Laurentius gebraten wurde; die Tradition berichtet vom feinen Humor mit dem er damit umging.
Die Fähigkeit, selbst im Anblick des Todes innerlich heiter und frei zu bleiben, ist tatsächlich ein Zeichen der Heiligkeit; so verhält sich jemand, der die Tugend der Hoffnung einverleibt hat.
Was die Kirche uns heute vor Augen hält, ist aber nich vor allem das Leiden des Laurentius, sondern seine Liebe. Die Oration lasst uns beten: ‘fac nos amare quod amavit’, ‘lass uns das lieben, was Laurentius geliebt hat’.
Wir wissen, dass er die Armen sehr liebte. Als der Kaiser die Schätze der Kirche besichtigen wollte, versammelte Laurentius die armen Leute von Rom und sagte: ‘Hier ist der Kirche Schatz!’ Vor allem liebte Laurentius Christus den Herrn, dessen Beispiel der Hingabe er ebenso radikal im Sterben wie lebend folgen wollte.
Cyprian von Karthago schrieb einmal: ‘Martyrem non facit poena sed causa’. Nicht das materielle Leiden, sondern die Ursache wofür man ‘Ja!’ zum Leiden sagt, macht den Märtyrer aus.
Die Aussage lässt sich auf unsere Verhältnisse übertragen. Selbst die strengste Selbstversagung ist, aus christlicher Sicht, von nur neutralem Wert. Was daraus potenziell ein Zeugnis des Glaubens macht ist allein die herzliche, selbstlose, großzügige Liebe, die dahinter steckt.
Lassen wir unsere Liebe von aller Selbstsucht, besonders der subtilsten, resolut reinigen damit unsere ganze Existenz, sowie unser Übergang in die Ewigkeit, ein purer Lobgesang werde des Allerhöchsten, des Quells aller Heiligkeit.
***
St Laurence, a native of Spain, was a fourth-century martyr of the Church in Rome.
The story of his passion is well known. Representations in art have made us familiar with the grid on which he was burnt alive; tradition speaks of the gentle humour with which he embraced his agony.
It is truly a sign of holiness to remain inwardly vivacious and free in the face of death. Such is the disposition of a woman or man who has truly interiorised the virtue of hope.
Yet what the Church invites us to consider today is not so much the pain Laurence suffered as the love on whose account he gave himself up to it. The collect lets us pray: ‘fac nos amare quod amavit’: ‘Let us love that which [Laurence] loved’.
We know he loved the poor a great deal. When the emperor asked to see the treasures of the Church, wishing to confiscate them, Laurence rounded up the poor people of Rome and said: ‘Here is the Church’s treasure!’ Above all, Laurence loved Christ the Lord, whose example of self-giving he wished to follow as faithfully in death as he had in life.
Cyprian of Carthage once wrote: ‘Martyrem non facit poena sed causa’. What makes a martyr is not material pain, but the cause for which one is prepared to embrace it.
This affirmation can be applied to our own circumstances. Even the strictest mortification has, from a Christian point of view, only neutral value. What potentially makes of it a witness to faith is alone the cordial, selfless, generous love that underlies it.
Let us, then, take resolute care to purify our love from all self-seeking, particularly of the subtlest kind, in order that our whole life on earth, as well as our transition into eternity, may be a pure song of praise to the Most High, the source of all holiness.

Coram Fratribus

A Good Priest I was recently asked: What is a good priest? The best answer I could think of was this poem by Dietrich Vorwerk, who died in 1942. ‘A priest must be/Very great and very small;/Noble as a prince,/With a peasant’s simplicity and candour;/A hero having subdued himself,/A man who has fought with God;/A source of sanctified life,/A sinner whom God has pardoned;/Lord over his own desire,/A servant to those who are anxious and weak;/Bowing low to no human greatness,/Reverencing, rather, the least;/His Master’s pupil,/A champion in spiritual battle;/A beggar with imploring hands,/A herold bearing gifts of gold;/A man on the battlefield,/A woman at the sickbed;/An elder in his vision, /In his trustfulness, a child;/Yearning for high things,/Attentive to those that are low;/Destined for joy,/Familiar with grief,/Far removed from spite;/Clear in thinking,/Truthful in speech;/A friend of peace,/The enemy of sloth;/Well-grounded in himself —/So very different from me!’
https://coramfratribus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Priestergedicht-Vorwerk.mp3

Today is the feast day of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar and a martyr in the German death camp of Auschwitz during World War II.
St Maximilian Kolbe died on August 14 and his remains were Read More 4 Likes

Posted: 18 hours ago

Today is the feast day of Saint Muiredach (Murtagh), the patron saint of the Diocese of Killala in Co. Mayo and Sligo.
Muiredach was placed at the head of the Church of Killala by Ireland's patron St. Patrick, and is remembered Read More 9 Likes

Posted: 2 days ago

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St Clare of Assisi.
O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty,
grant, through her intercession,
that, following Christ in poverty of spirit,
we may merit to contemplate you
one day in Read More 2 Comments

AmenAmen 🙏

6 Likes

Posted: 3 days ago

Today is the feast of Saint Lawrence of Rome.
He was one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church in charge of the material needs of the faithful. Gifted with a sense of humour, he met his martyrdom cheerfully, Read More 3 Comments

Amen.🙏Amen 🙏Amen 🙏

7 Likes

Posted: 4 days ago

Gospel of the Day (Matthew 14,22-33)
After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on Read More

Posted: 5 days ago

Summer Gospel chapter a day programme 2026

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

Fatima Pilgrimage 2026 - Carrigtwohill Parish

Carrigtwohill Parish Pilgrimage to Fatima 7th - 14th September 2026

Bishop Crean meets Pope Leo

Bishop William Crean meets Pope Leo on recent pilgrimage to Rome

"Behold I'm doing a new thing" says the Lord (Isaiah 43)

Pastoral letter from Bishop William Crean

Search

Latest Homily

Latest Articles

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