Logo for year of prayer, listening and discernment

The Diocesan Year of Prayer, Listening and Discernment, continues

Bishop Fintan and the Office for Mission and Ministry thank all who participated in the recent sessions across the sixteen Families of Parishes.

In the coming weeks, the responses received are being prayerfully reviewed. This stage of reflection and discernment is vital as we seek to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us as a Diocesan family and to shape the next steps of this process.

The diocese asks everyone to continue to pray that those entrusted with this work may be guided by wisdom, humility, and hope.

The next steps will also include reporting back to the families of parishes.

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)

More about the Year of Prayer, Listening and Discernment

Last weekend 150 young people gathered in St Mary and St. Anne’s Cathedral for Connect 6 and heard Sr. Mary Grace

Sr Mary Grace delivered an uplifting and inspiring keynote talk entitled Hope Does Not Disappoint.  

Sr. Mary Grace grew up on the shores of Sydney, Australia, and graduated from the University of Notre Dame Australia with a degree in Theology. She is a member of Sisters for Life in Denver, Colorado, USA.

The talk was recorded so we are delighted to share it with you. Please pass the link along to friends and family who may be interested in watching.

Plans for Cork City’s 2025 Corpus Christi Procession in June were announced at the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne on Wednesday evening.

Cllr. Tony Fitzgerald, deputising for the Lord Mayor of Cork City; Bishop of Cork and Ross, Fintan Gavin; and Paul Moynihan, MC for the launch, addressed over 120 attendees. They were joined by representatives from parishes and faith community groups and musicians for an evening of festivities.

The Eucharistic Procession will take place on Sunday, June 22nd, 2025. This year marks 99 years since it began with the first Procession in the Cork city streets taking place on June 6^th, 1926 where tens of thousands of people participated. 

The idea of taking the Procession through the streets of Cork emerged in the years after the War of Independence and the Civil War in a bid to heal division. 

There is a "Come and See" afternoon for men aged between 18 and 40 who may be thinking about Priesthood for the Diocese of Cork and Ross.

It will take place:

Sunday 25 May 2025
2:00pm to 5:00pm

Mardyke House, Cork City (T12 W8RP)

The afternoon will include time for prayer, reflection, discussion and a social dimension.

For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Watch this video 

to see an invitation from Fr. Marius and Fr. Cian.

Last Saturday a large crowd of young adults gathered in Cork for CONNECT6 at the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne

The theme of the event was "hope does not disappoint." This is the sixth CONNECT event that the Diocese of Cork and Ross has organised to support and bring together young adults from across the Diocese.
Sr Mary Grace SV, originally from Australia, travelled from the USA with three other Sisters of Life to speak about how Christian Hope does not disappoint.

Sr Mary Grace encouraged the young adults to trust that God is so much more invested in our own happiness than we are. "Jesus is the fulfilment of every human heart... and what he is about is you becoming you," she continued.

Bishop Fintan Gavin welcomes the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost OSA as our new pope.

Cardinal Prevost has taken the name Pope Leo XIV and his election comes on day two of the Conclave in Rome where 133 cardinal electors were gathered in the Sistine Chapel.

Bishop Fintan Gavin also extends his congratulations to the community of Augustinian Friars in Cork as the new pope belongs to the worldwide Augustinian family which is one of the oldest religious orders of the Catholic Church.

“It’s very encouraging to hear the key points made by the Holy Father in his first remarks. He emphasised the need for unity and peace in the world and in the Church.” 

“Pope Leo also has a connection with Cork and Ross Diocese because until last year he was a bishop in Peru. Many of the priests and religious sisters in our diocese have also spent time as missionaries in Peru.”

The choice of name which the new pope has taken also tells us something of his emphasis in faith, Bishop Fintan said. 

“Pope Leo XIII, the last pope to take the name Leo, issued an important document in 1891 on the social teaching of the Church. And this new pope is someone who has ministered among the poor in Peru.”

I invite the people of our diocese to pray for Pope Leo as he becomes our chief shepherd and guides us closer to the Risen Lord.”

Cardinal Provost announced as Pope Leo XIV