Happy Christmas! (& Mass arrangements)
Posted on 21. Dec, 2014 by John Coughlan in Uncategorized
Monsignor Ciarán, Fr George, Fr Tom, Fr Hugh and all the seminarians and postgraduates of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, wish all friends of the Irish College and visitors to this website a very happy Christmas. May the celebration of Christ’s birth fill you with wonder and joy.
Please note that there will be no public Mass at the Irish College during the Christmas period. The next public Mass at the College will be on Sunday, 11th January 2015 at 10.00.
Carol Service 2014
Posted on 29. Nov, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
The Irish College Advent Carol Service this year was held on Sunday, 14th December 2014. Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll was the presider and seminarians and postgraduates priests of the Irish College formed the choir, under the direction of Rev. Conor McCarthy. A large crowd attended.
For photographs and videos of the occasion, click here.
Ordination to the Priesthood
Posted on 27. Nov, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Pictured after the ordination (left to right): Archbishop Patrick Coveney, former Apostolic Nuncio, Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross, Fr Marius O’Reilly, Bishop Christopher Jones, Emeritus Bishop of Elphin.
Congratulations and blessings to former Irish College seminarian Fr Marius O’Reilly,, who was ordained to the Priesthood by Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross in the Church of the Real Presence, Curraheen, Bishopstown, Cork, on Sunday, 23rd November 2014.
For more photographs, click here.
For video highlights, click here.
Ministry of Reader 2014
Posted on 17. Nov, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Left to right: Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll (Rector), Fr Hugh Clifford (Director of Formation), Mr Brian O’Driscoll (new Reader), Bishop Raymond Field (celebrant), Mr James Daly (new Reader), Mr Stephen Duffy (Master of Ceremonies for the Mass), Fr Thomas Norris (Spiritual Director), Fr George Hayes (Vice Rector), and Rev. Aidan McCann (Deacon for the Mass).
At a Mass celebrated in the College Chapel of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, on Monday, 17th November 2014, two seminarians of the College, Mr James Daly (Archdiocese of Dublin) and Mr Brian O’Driscoll (Diocese of Cork and Ross) were instituted to the Ministry of Reader by Most Rev. Dr Raymond Field, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin.
To view more photographs from the occasion, click here.
The Ministry of Reader is a Church ministry in itself, but it is also one of the steps along the way in formation for the Priesthood.
Here is the description of the Ministry of Reader from the Apostolic Letter, ‘Ministeria quaedam’ of Blessed Pope Paul VI (August 15, 1972):
‘The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to read the lessons from sacred Scripture, except for the Gospel, in the Mass and other celebrations; he is to recite the psalm between the readings when there is no psalmist; he is to present the intentions for the general intercessions in the absence of a deacon or cantor; he is to direct the singing and the participation of the faithful; he is to instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of the sacraments. He may also, insofar as necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who by a temporary appointment are to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and perfectly fulfill these functions, let him meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture.
Let the reader be aware of the office he has undertaken and make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that increasingly warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord.’
Doctoral Defence: Fr Salvatore Bucolo
Posted on 14. Nov, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Congratulations to former Irish College postgraduate student, Fr Salvatore Bucolo, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis, ‘L’attrazione uomo-donna tra creazione, caduta e redenzione. L’antropologia del desiderio sessuale e la sua redenzione in Cristo nella prospettiva di Sant’Agostino’ at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family at the Pontifical Lateran University on 6th November 2014.
Fr Ragheed Ganni Soccer Tournament
Posted on 06. Nov, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Action from this year’s Fr Ragheed Ganni Memorial Soccer Tournament.
The Fr Ragheed Ganni Memorial Soccer Tournament took place at the Irish College, Rome on Saturday, 8th November 2014. The annual tournament is dedicated to Fr Ragheed, who was an Irish College alumnus who was martyred for his faith in Iraq in 2007. Ragheed came here to the Irish College in 1996 as a seminarian and was ordained priest in 2001. He stayed on in this college as a postgraduate priest until 2003 when he returned to Iraq. During his years in the Irish College, he played on the College soccer team, and so this tournament, the Fr Ragheed Ganni Cup was established in his memory.
Six teams took part, representing the Irish College, English College, Marist College, North American College, Beda College, and Scots College. An important feature of the Fr Ragheed Ganni Memorial Soccer Tournament is that it concludes with all the participants celebrating Vespers in the College Chapel. Fr Ragheed Ganni celebrated his first Mass as a Priest in this Chapel, and he is now depicted in the apse mosaic, carrying the martyrs’ palm branch.
For photographs of the day, click here.
All Saints Day 2014
Posted on 29. Oct, 2014 by John Coughlan in Uncategorized
Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints will be celebrated in the Chapel of All Saints of Ireland in the Irish College this Saturday, 1st November 2014 at 10.00. All welcome.
Afterwards, there will be prayers in Campo Verano cemetery for those buried in the Irish College plot there at approximately 12.00.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh anamnacha na marbh.
Doctoral Defence: Fr Salvatore Bilotta
Posted on 20. Oct, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Fr Salvatore Bilotta with family, friends, professors and Irish College formation staff members after his doctoral defence.
Congratulations to former Irish College student, Fr Salvatore Bilotta, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis, ‘Fede pensata e fede predicata. Aspetti scientifici e sapienziali nella riflessione di Tommaso d’Aquino e John Henry Newman’ at the Pontifical Lateran University on 15th October 2014.
St Columbanus celebrations
Posted on 08. Oct, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Opening of the Jubilee Year marking the 1400th anniversary of the death of St Columbanus
St Columbanus (died 615)
Programme of events for the celebrations which were held in Rome from 10th to 12th October 2014:
Friday, 10th October 2014
17.00: Ecumenical Vespers in the Basilica of San Clemente, Via Labicana 95. Presided over by Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor and Archbishop Sir David Moxon, personal representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See.
21.15: Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Piazza della Minerva: Concert given by ‘The Priests’, Fr. Eugene O’Hagan, Fr. Martin O’Hagan and Fr. David Delargy.
Saturday, 11th October
16.30: Solemn liturgical reception of the reliquary of St Columbanus from Bobbio at the Basilica of St John Lateran.
17.00: Solemn concelebrated Mass in the Basilica of St John Lateran. Principal Celebrant: Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.
Sunday, 12th October
09.00: Solemn concelebrated Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Piazza della Minerva. Principal Celebrant, Seán Cardinal Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh.
Child safeguarding training
Posted on 07. Oct, 2014 by John Coughlan in Carousel
Child Safeguarding Training
Mr Niall Moore, Training Manager of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, visited the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, from 5th to 8th October 2014 to provide child safeguarding training in specialised sessions for each group resident in the College: seminarians, postgraduate priests, and formation staff.