Archive | Bishop William

Easter Vigil 2021 My friends, When the sky is overcast for a very long time it becomes harder to believe that the sun still shines brightly as ever above it. “Waiting for Godot” was Samuel Beckett’s title for his play which is set in an entirely bleak and depressing landscape.  Its dialogue is just between […]

Holy Thursday 1st April 2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh My friends, Over these past weeks I and other bishops have been in receipt of quite a number of letters and emails about the closure of churches for Mass with exception of funerals and weddings.  Some are very angry and feel hurt by what they perceive […]

Chrism Mass 31/3/2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh “Living in hybrid time” My friends, The saying attributed to Woody Allen “that 80% of life is turning up” is not like it used to be.  Our new experience of working from home has changed not just how we work, but has forced us to rethink so many […]

Easter Message 2021 from Bishop Crean   Easter Message from Bishop William Crean Bishop of Cloyne “Let not your hearts be troubled”     My dear friends,   The Pandemic has really rattled us all over this past year and we are not “out of the woods” yet. More patience and resilience is being asked […]

St. Patrick’s Day 2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh   “A legacy to be cherished in fragile times” My friends, At this time one hundred years ago, we were in the throes of the War of Independence.  Like all wars it was brutal and bloody.  A truce was declared in July and negotiations began which led […]

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) 14th February 2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, “Try not to be anxious for one’s own advantage” My friends, Every negative diagnosis is like a prison sentence.  People freely talk of the shock and numbness that comes with receiving bad news about their health.  As it is now so it […]

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) 7th February 2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh “My life is but a breath…” My friends, A blessing often prayed over newly married couples took the form of wishing on them the special gifts given to major figures of the Old Testament – so it went “May you be blessed with […]

4th Sunday Ordinary Time 31st January 2021 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh “His words made a deep impression on them because he spoke to them with authority” My friends, ‘Fake news’ is a term that has come into our vocabulary in recent years due to a significant office holder who tended to dismiss unpalatable facts as ‘fake […]

Christmas Message 2020 from Bishop William Crean   My friends,   We are looking forward to a meaningful Christmas. We have together been preparing to celebrate Christmas, knowing that it is going to be different because of Covid 19. We are strangely guarding against the risk that being together may be for one another. We […]

4th Sunday of Advent 20th December 2020 St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh     My friends,   A few weeks ago, I got one of these WhatsApp messages. It was a very short video piece of a little boy probably no more than two years old. He was wearing a mask. But then he got a […]