Diocesan News

Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross, Ireland

The Holy Thursday Mass of Chrism will be celebrated at Cork's Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne this Thursday morning

Bishop Fintan Gavin welcomes parishioners, priests, deacons and religious from across the diocese.

The Mass of Chrism begins at 10.00am.

The Mass gets its name from the fact that it includes the:

Renewal of Priestly Promises
Blessing of the Oil of the Sick
Blessing of the Oil of Catechumens
and the Consecration of the Chrism

These blessed oils are taken to each of the parishes, hospitals, and faith communities of the diocese for use in the sacraments throughout the year.

This is the only Mass celebrated in the diocese on Holy Thursday morning. This highlights our unity as one diocese and our membership of the one family of God.

Later on Holy Thursday evening, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in parishes and faith communities to mark the start of the Easter Triduum.

Each parish takes three sets of holy oils back to the parish

The annual Corpus Christi Eucharistic Procession is scheduled to take place on

Sunday 22 June 2025

This year marks the 99th anniversary of the inaugural Procession.

Change to the Route

There is one significant change to the Procession for 2025. To accommodate the large gathering, the Procession will conclude at a specially constructed Altar near the monument on the Grand Parade

Invitation to All

Bishop Fintan Gavin warmly invites everyone to participate in this cherished tradition and important expression of our faith. Please mark this date in your diary.

Corpus Christi Procession 2025

The church choirs from the six parishes around Clonakilty were together for the first time to reflect on the place of music and singing in Catholic worship

The workshop was led by Fr. Fergus Ryan OP CC who is based in Barryroe and ministers in the parishes.

Eighty choir members and priests from Barryroe in the east to Rosscarbery in the west and from most churches in between attended.

The gathering was held at Clonakilty Parish Centre.

Family of Parishes choirs join in workshop on liturgical music

Canon John O'Donovan, Co-PP; Bishop Fintan Gavin, Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Dan Boyle, Brian Geaney, Assistant Chief Executive, Cork City Council [Pic: Brian Lougheed]

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Dan Boyle, paid a courtesy visit to Bishop Fintan Gavin, Bishop of Cork and Ross at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne, Cork

Cllr. Dan Boyle was born in Chicago, Illinois, to emigrant Irish parents. He has lived in his mother's native city of Cork since he was eight years of age, in the Turners Cross area of the city.

He was educated at local schools; Scoil Chríost Rí and Coláiste Chríost Rí, and at the Cork Regional Technical College (now MTU), where he studied Business Studies and Child Care. He received an MBS in Government from University College Cork in 2015.

The Lord Mayor was accompanied by Brian Geaney, Assistant Chief Executive, Cork City Council.

Also present was Canon John O'Donovan, Co-PP and Moderator of the Cathedral Family of Parishes.

As we begin the month of April, a question arises: What did you promise for Lent?

It's been 26 days since the holy season of Lent started on Ash Wednesday. In every church, people had the blessed ashes placed on their foreheads and they undertook commitments to grow closer to the Lord during the 40 days.

Bishop Fintan made his annual pastoral visit to University College Cork that and celebrated three Ash Wednesday Masses in the Honan Chapel. In his homilies during these Masses, Bishop Fintan encouraged the congregations to enter into the season of Lent with open hearts and to rely on the God's mercy to carry them throughout the weeks ahead.

Now there are two weeks to go! So, perhaps it's a time for a review and maybe a restart!

Lent ends on the Wednesday of Holy Week. It's followed by three sacred days (The Triduum): Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, leading then to the celebration of Easter.

This year, Easter Sunday is on April 20th.

Bishop Fintan placed blessed ashes on students at the Honan Chapel in UCC on Ash Wednesday