- Guest speaker Richard Moore of Children in Crossfire
You or a representative are invited to attend the launch of Catholic Schools Week 2016. Catholic Schools Week will run from Sunday 31 January to Saturday 6 February 2016, and is an all-Ireland annual event which invites Catholic schools to give expression in a special way to the ethos of Catholic education. The theme for 2016 is ‘Catholic Schools: Challenged to Proclaim God’s Mercy’, and this complements the Year of Mercy which was launched by Pope Francis on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Details of the launch:
Date: Monday 25 January 2016
Time: 10.00am
Venue: Mount Mercy College, Model Farm Road, Bishopstown, Co Cork
Details: Principal Padraigín Ui Riordáin will welcome representatives from schools across Cork and from Catholic education across Ireland. The CSW launch will open with prayer, it will then be addressed by guest speaker Richard Moore (see brief bio below) on the theme of mercy, and this presentation will be followed by workshops. At 12.15pm Bishop John Buckley will be chief celebrant at Mass in the close-by Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Dennehy’s Cross, which will be concelebrated by Bishop Brendan Kelly, Chair of the Council for Education of the Irish Episcopal Conference, the Very Reverend Canon Bartholomew O’Mahony PP, Reverend Dr Tom Deenihan who will preach the Homily, and by other visiting priests, representative of Catholic Education.
A Mass will be broadcast by RTÉ on Sunday 31 January to celebrate both Catholic Schools Week and the new Grow in Love religious education programme for primary schools. Students from Mount Mercy College, Cork, as well as pupils from Saint Pius X primary school in Templeogue, Dublin, will participate in this special liturgy to mark the beginning of Catholic Schools Week across Ireland.
This will be the first time that a school in Cork will host the national launch of Catholic Schools Week. Representatives from twenty-five primary and secondary schools in the Cork city area will also be in attendance. Welcoming Catholic Schools Week 2016 Ms Ui Riordáin, said, “We are delighted to be chosen to launch this national celebration of Catholic education. We look forward to welcoming the wider Catholic community to our school in Cork for this special event. The words of Pope Francis ‘Mercy is the spirit that awakens us’ will inspire the community of Mount Mercy College to participate wholeheartedly in, and celebrate, this spiritually enriching occasion at a milestone in our school tradition, having just celebrated our Golden Jubilee.”
Ms Ui Riordáin continued, “This official launch of Catholic Schools Week, coupled with 2016 being an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy for the Universal Church, offers us an opportunity to focus on our traditions and at the same time to look forward with anticipation to our future, to the challenge of proclaiming God’s mercy as we promote tolerance, respect and inclusiveness, whilst we explore the possibilities for all in our daily work and the many charities and causes which we support.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Mount Mercy College Cork has eight-hundred students with sixty staff. The school was founded in 1965 under the trusteeship of the Sisters of Mercy. Catherine McAuley founded the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in 1831. Mercy education is committed to holistic development and to the achievement of the full potential of each student. It is a process informed and influenced by the teaching and example of Jesus Christ and is conducted in an atmosphere of care, respect and joy.
- In 1972, aged ten, whilst on his way home from school in Derry, Richard Moore was blinded by a rubber bullet fired at point blank range into his face. However, he did not allow this incident to anger or embitter him and acknowledges: “I have learned to see life in a different way.” Now in his fifties, Richard is the founder and director of an International Development NGO called Children in Crossfire. Richard is married and has two daughters, Naoimh and Enya. During his self-employed life, he has owned two public houses and was a director of Derry City FC. As well as being Executive Director of Children in Crossfire, he helps run a local community radio station, Drive 105.3FM.
- To mark Catholic Schools Week on Sunday 31 January 2016 RTÉ will broadcast Mass at 11.00am from its Donnybrook studio in Dublin. This Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Brendan Kelly, Bishop of Achonry and chair of the Bishops’ Council for Education. CSW is a celebration of Catholic schools throughout Ireland, North and South. It acknowledges the tremendous contribution that our Catholic primary and post-primary schools make not just to Irish society, but to the mission of the Church. #CSW2016 resources are available for schools on catholicbishops.ie.
- Directions: Take the M7, follow signs for Limerick/Cork/Newbridge/M8. Keep left at the fork to continue on M8, follow signs for Cork/Durrow. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto N40 heading to South Ring/N25/N22/N27/N28/N71/Port/Airport. Take the exit toward Sarsfield Rd/N71. At Sarsfield Rd. Roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Sarsfield Rd/N71. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Wilton Rd/N71. Turn left onto Model Farm Rd/R608. Model Farm Rd, Cork.
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444.
