Welcome, Fáilte - Diocese of Cloyne

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

Light a candle at St Colman's

Welcome

Fáilte, Welcome

to the website for the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland

Bishop William Crean

30 October 2024

My friends,

I wish to draw your attention to the new “Light a Candle” feature on the Diocesan Website.

This is not a virtual candle. For those who wish to participate, a candle will be placed in the Cathedral in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament for your intentions.

For the month of November, the focus will be on remembering our deceased loved ones. “Indeed, the church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian Religion, has honoured with great respect the memory of the dead.” (Directory on Popular Piety and the liturgy, 251)

Themes will vary during the year, following to some extent the Liturgical Calendar but also including other celebrations and occasions as they arise.

Donations received will be used for the ongoing maintenance of St Colman’s Cathedral.

With gratitude always for your support and prayer.

Yours sincerely,

+ Wm. Crean
Most Rev. William Crean, D.D.,
Bishop of Cloyne.

Light a Candle at St Colman’s Cathedral

Light a Candle at St Colman's Cathedral

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Latest Homily

8 June 2026 - Golden Jubilee Mass - Maynooth

Latest Articles

June 2026
- St. Gobnait's Shrine, Ballyvourney - 28th June 2026
- Homily by V. Rev. Tom McDermott Adm - 2nd June 2026
May 2026
- Cloyne/Aghada Pastoral Area - Changes to Mass Schedule June 2026
- The Priest's Apocalypse - 17th 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
October 2024
- Light a Candle at St. Colman's Cathedral

Coram Fratribus

Bonifatiustag

An address given in Paderborn to mark the (transferred) celebration of St Boniface’s Day. Paderborn is the seat of the Bonifatiuswerk, a foundation that in many ways assists the Catholic Church in the Nordic diaspora. The day gave us, too, Read More

Coram Fratribus

Man and Machine Still pondering the richness of Magnifica humanitas, I am haunted by an observation Hannah Arendt made in 1957, in The Human Condition. She reflects on man’s increasing obsession with the thought of creating himself instead of receiving existence as something given. Given the fast progress of human ingenuity she envisages a time in which man will not be able to understand the things he can do. ‘In this case, it would be as though our brain, which constitutes the physical, material condition of our thoughts, were unable to follow what we do, so that from now on we would indeed need artificial machines to do our thinking and speaking. If it should turn out to be true that knowledge (in the modern sense of know-how) and thought have parted company for good, then we would indeed become helpless slaves, not so much of our machines as of our know-how, thoughtless creatures at the mercy of every gadget which is technically possible, no matter how murderous it is.’ How crucial, then, to practise thinking and to help others to practise it. That is surely today’s great educational task.

Coram Fratribus

The Sacred Heart ‘Any baptised Christian is called to know the heart of Jesus from within. I love the old Latin prayer, ‘Iesu, mitis et humilis Corde, fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum’: ‘Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like your heart.’ […] In John’s Gospel, the mutual indwelling of the believer and Christ is expounded in eucharistic terms: ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.’ Holy communion is an exchange of hearts, possibly in more palpable terms than we commonly realise. It is intriguing that in the case of alleged eucharistic miracles the changed specimens, submitted to scientific analysis, almost invariably show traces of cardiac tissue. Such miracles are not truths of the faith: no-one is obliged to acknowledge them. But anyone can find here a telling symbol.’ From Healing Wounds.

Coram Fratribus

A Curious Story A kind correspondent has alerted me to a remark of Sigrid Undset’s found in the archives of John Mooney, the biographer of St Magnus. Mooney must have asked Undset about something he had heard on the grapevine about a possible film version of Kristin Lavransdatter. She responded in a letter dated 25 August 1937, with indignation that can still be felt after almost ninety years: ‘I really wonder how this story about refusing an offer from America for the film rights of Kristin Lavransdatter all of a sudden has gotten out – it really happened some years ago, and I never mentioned it as far as I know – I believe it was Miss Garbo wanted to impersonate Kristin. Now I never liked Miss Garbo very much, so the offer did not tempt me at all.’ The idea that the heroine of Camille should turn up as Mistress of Husaby is tinged with absurdity. I doubt it’s a great loss that the plan was never realised.

Coram Fratribus

Mahler 2 Since I wrote, in The Shattering of Loneliness, about the experience of first hearing Mahler’s second symphony, I have had many conversations about this extraordinary music. I have received letters from people who have likewise been inwardly awakened by it. The recording I heard, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic, remains dear to me. I wasn’t prepared, though, for the discovery I made the other day when I found that incomparable critic and enthusiast, Dave Hurwitz, proclaim it ‘the best recording ever‘. Bernstein is, says Hurwitz ‘the most literal and faithful exponent of Mahler’s music. There is nothing that he does that you cannot find reason for, good reason, in the score. And beyond that he gets to the essence of the music behind the printed page.’ It’s hard to disagree. Hurwitz says he was twelve when he first heard the symphony, finding himself sitting up in bed, amazed, during the final movement, then needing to listen to the whole work again from the beginning. This music can define a life. Here it is.

Coram Fratribus

Bonifatiustag An address given in Paderborn to mark the (transferred) celebration of St Boniface’s Day. Paderborn is the seat of the Bonifatiuswerk, a foundation that in many ways assists the Catholic Church in the Nordic diaspora. The day gave us, too, an opportunity to rejoice in the fortieth anniversary of ordination of the General Secretary of the Bonifatiuswerk.
At the time of the Flood it rained for 40 days. It took 40 days to embalm Jacob’s body in Egypt. When Moses entered the cloud of glory on Sinai, he stayed within it for 40 days. The men whom Moses sent to inspect the land of Canaan returned after 40 days, carrying a wonderful cluster of grapes on a pole.
For 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness. In Scripture, a period of 40 years marks a change of generations. It is said of several kings – Saul, David, and Solomon – that they reigned for 40 years.
A 40-year chunk of any life is epochal.
At 40, in the year of our Lord 716, Saint Boniface left England and came to the German lands in order, here, to show forth and proclaim the Gospel.
We are gathered to honour St Boniface. He instantiates a number of Christian virtues we need especially today: courage, humility, and patience. Boniface emigrated from his country to show the wider world what blessedness is found in Christ. He wanted, to use a lovely Pauline phrase, to spread abroad the sweet perfume of Christ Jesus, to create a new atmosphere, so that people might breathe better and live together more peacefully and graciously. That is a high form of spiritual ecology.
Any the same time we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of ordination of Monsignore Georg Austen.
Dear Georg, I thank you for your faithfulness. To see that it is possible to construct a life (and to do so joyfully) on the basis of an unconditional ‘Yes!’ given once for all is vital encouragement for all of us in these ephemeral times.
You are, like Boniface of yore, a pilgrimaging preacher and builder of churches. In the name of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference I wish to express our gratitude for all the good the Bonifatiuswerk has done, and keeps doing, in our countries through you and your colleagues. Churches and monasteries have been built, wonderful media projects and initiatives for youth have come about. Above all, the work of the Bonifatiuswerk nurtures friendship between individual and nations, concrete signs that the Good News truly transcends all boundaries.
Your jubilee does mark an epoch. You can look back and rejoice in everything the Lord, through his call to you, has realised. At the same time you can look forward with confidence. God who calls you is, and stays, faithful; he will do this. That’s what Paul once wrote. He is as right as ever.
Many congratulations on this day! May God give you his blessing and grace for the road ahead.
***
Zur Zeit der Sintflut regnete es 40 Tage. 40 Tage brauchte man, um Jakob in Ägypten einzubalsamieren. Als Mose auf Sinai in die Gotteswolke eintrat, blieb er 40 Tage lang darin gehüllt. Die Männer, die Mose aussandte “um zu sehen, was für ein Land [Kanaan] ist”, kehrten nach 40 Tagen zurück mit einem wunderbaren Rebstock an der Stange.
Während 40 Jahre wanderte Israel in der Wüste. Ein Zeitraum von 40 Jahren steht in der Bibel für den Übergang zwischen Generationen. Von mehreren Königen — Saul, David und Salomon — wird berichtet, sie regierten 40 Jahre.
Ein 40-jähriger Lebensabschnitt ist epochal.
Mit 40, im Jahre 716, verliess Bonifatius England und kam in die deutschen Lande, um hier das Evangelium vorzuleben und zu verkünden.
Wir sind versammelt um Bonifatius zu ehren. In ihm sehen wir ein Beispiel christlicher Tugenden die wir heute sehr benötigen: des Mutes, der Demut, der Geduld. Bonifatius hat sein Land verlassen um der weiteren Welt die Glückseligkeit des Lebens in Christus zu vermitteln. Er wollte, um es mit Paulus zu sagen, den Wohlgeruch Christi verbreiten, eine neue Atmosphäre schaffen, damit die Leute besser atmen und gnädiger, friedlicher zusammenleben. Das ist eine hohe Form der geistigen Ökologie.
Zur selben Zeit feiern wir das vierzigste Priesterweihejubiläum von Monsignor Georg Austen.
Lieber Georg: ich danke Dir für Deine Treue. Zu bestätigen, dass es möglich ist, ein Leben zu gestalten (und zwar glücklich!) auf Grund eines unbedingten, einmal für alle gegebenen “Ja” ist eine vitale Ermunterung in diesen so ephemeren Zeiten.
Du bist, wie Bonifatius damals, ein pilgernder Verkünder und Kirchenbauer. Im Name der Nordischen Bischofskonferenz möchte ich ein herzliches Vergelt’s Gott ausdrücken für all das Gute, das das Bonifatiuswerk durch Dich und Deine Mitarbeiter in unseren Ländern ermöglicht hat und weiterhin ermöglicht. Kirchen sind entstanden und Klöster, tolle Media- und Jugendprojekte. Vor allem bestehen durch den Einsatz des Werkes nährende Freundschaften zwischen Nationen und Personen, konkrete Zeichen, dass die Frohbotschaft tatsächlich alle Grenzen durchquert.
Dein Jubiläum ist epochal. Zurücksehend darfst Du Dich freuen all dessen, was der Herr durch seinen Ruf an Dich verwirklicht hat. Zur selben Zeit kannst Du zuversichtlich in die Zukunft blicken. Gott, der Dich beruft, ist und bleibt treu; er wird es tun. So schrieb einmal Paulus, und er hat immer noch recht, der Alte.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum heutigen Tag — und Gottes Segen und Gnade für den weiteren Weg.
Saint Boniface chopping down the oak of Gaesmere, after a painting by Heinrich Maria von Hess. This is how Willibald recounts the incident in his Life of Boniface:
Now many of the Hessians who at that time had acknowledged the Catholic faith were confirmed by the grace of the Holy Spirit and received the laying-on of hands. But others, not yet strong in the spirit, refused to accept the pure teachings of the Church in their entirety. Moreover, some continued secretly, others openly, to offer sacrifices to trees and springs, to inspect the entrails of victims; some practiced divination, legerdemain, and incantations; some turned their attention to auguries, auspices, and other sacrificial rites; while others, of a more reasonable character, forsook all the profane practices of the Gentiles and committed none of these crimes. With the counsel and advice of the latter persons, Boniface in their presence attempted to cut down, at a place called Gaesmere, a certain oak of extraordinary size called in the old tongue of the pagans the Oak of Jupiter. Taking his courage in his hands (for a great crowd of pagans stood by watching and bitterly cursing in their hearts the enemy of the gods), he cut the first notch. But when he had made a superficial cut, suddenly, the oak’s vast bulk, shaken by a mighty blast of wind from above crashed to the ground shivering its topmost branches into fragments in its fall. As if by the express will of God (for the brethren present had done nothing to cause it) the oak burst asunder into four parts, each part having a trunk of equal length. At the sight of this extraordinary spectacle the heathens who had been cursing ceased to revile and began, on the contrary, to believe and bless the Lord. Thereupon the holy bishop took counsel with the brethren, built an oratory from the timber of the oak and dedicated it to Saint Peter the Apostle.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony of Padua.
St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles, was a powerful Franciscan preacher and teacher.
He is typically portrayed holding the child Jesus—or a lily—or a book—or Read More 2 Comments

AmenAmen 🙏

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Posted: 7 hours ago

Today we celebrate the memorial of the immaculate heart of Mary.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary signifies the great purity and love of the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary for God.
Here is a prayer to honour her today: Read More 6 Comments

Amen 🙏

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Posted: 15 hours ago

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
O Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in you.
Today is also World Day of Prayer for Priests
We pray for all priests that they may be Read More 30 Comments

Funny I never forgot the prayer.We had his statue for years in the house.mary B Coghlan AmenSacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in thee amen 🙏

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Posted: Yesterday

Bishop Crean’s homily for Mass celebrating his 50th year of ordination to the priesthood Cloy....

Bishop Crean’s homily for Mass celebrating his 50th year of ordination to the priesthood @diocese_of_cloyne Cloyne Diocese ⬇️
https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2026/06/11/bishop-creans-homily-for-mass-celebrating-his-50th-year-of-ordination-to-the-priesthood/ 1 Comments

Congratulations Bishop

20 Likes

Posted: 2 days ago

Each summer there is a beautiful outdoor healing Mass at the Shrine of St Gobnait in Ballyvourney . This year it will be celebrated on Sunday 28th June at 3.00pm and concelebrated by a number of Priests.
Mass includes Anointing of Read More 1 Comments

Margaret O'DonnellMary McAuliffe
Las imágenes son los dioses de los católicos mundanos.

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Posted: 2 days ago

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