Church of the Assumption, Ballyphehane, Cork.

We welcome Father Greg Howard to our Parish. Father Greg is a native of Ballinlough and was previously P.P. in St Mary’s on the Hill, Knocknaheeny. We pray that he will be very happy in our Parish.

We wish Canon Murphy well in his retirement from our parish. We ask God’s blessing on him in his new appointment as Assistant Priest in Ballinlough.

We thank him sincerely for his tremendous dedication to the people in our Parish of all ages. We thank him too for proclaiming the Word of God in word and deed in our midst. We are also very mindful of his devotion to Christ presence in the Mass.

We look forward to seeing him back with us in the future from time to time

Changes in the Parish Structures in the Diocese

In June Bishop Fintan called meetings of parish representatives and clergy to discuss the future of the parishes of the diocese.  The meeting for the West Cork parishes was held in Rosscarbery on Sunday, June 12^th.  The meeting for representatives from the city and from the Kinsale area of the diocese, 41 parishes in all, took place in Cork on Sunday June 26^th .  Canon Murphy and two parishioners represented Ballyphehane

At the meeting, the current situation in the diocese was outlined.  In 1996 there were 160 diocesan priests in appointments; in 2019, the year Bishop Fintan was appointed, there were 69, a fall of 56% in two decades.  In June 2022 there were 89 priests in total in official appointments in the diocese including religious and missionary priests.  The age profile of these 89 is as follows:

                        Over 75 years of age:        17 priests

                        69-74                                     29

                        55-64                                     27

                        45-54                                       9

                        35-44                                       7

This summer 11 priests are due to step down due to retirement or withdrawal by their order.

In this context to cater for the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people, the diocese of Cork and Ross is being divided into 16 families of parishes.  Each family will consist of a number of parishes, ranging from a minimum of three to a maximum of six.  Ballyphehane will belong to a family of three: The Lough, Togher and Ballyphehane.  In future, priests will be appointed to families of parishes, rather than to specific ones, where they will work as a team; one of the team acting as a moderator, i.e. co-ordinator.  Some parishes will have no resident priest; in the city those are Clogheen, Blackpool/The Glen and St. Patrick’s.

The next steps:  In July the bishop will meet each priest to discuss his appointment.  In September, the priest changes will take place.  In Summer 2023 the new arrangements will be reviewed.

Addressing the meeting Bishop Fintan read the passage from St Luke’s Gospel where Jesus instructed Simon to “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch”.  This is Jesus’ invitation to all of us – to become missionary disciples, working together with strong lay involvement in leadership and decision-making to build communities of faith in a welcoming Church.

On the 29th & 30th of January, there was great excitement as Bishop Fintan made his first official visit to the Parish and celebrated the Vigil and Sunday Masses; applause rung out as he was welcomed by parishioners; “it is lovely to have a young Bishop” was the general feeling.

The love that exists between people, Bishop and priests was very visible in the freedom with which parishioners greeted Bishop Fintan on the frontage of the Church. As you see below, they were overjoyed to have their photograph taken with their Bishop.

Photos credit for all photographs to Mike English.

In his Homily Bishop Fintan spoke about the joy in the people of Nazareth, listening to the gracious words spoken by Jesus in their synagogue. He also spoke about the obvious challenges facing the Church and he hoped that, all working together, a solution will be found. He also mentioned the wonderful parishioners and the number of priestly vocations from the Parish.

Bishop Fintan also prayed at the Tuskar Rock monument.

“Religious services and weddings can proceed without capacity limits but with all other protective measures remaining in place”

This is a very positive measure; however it is imperative that all other COVID-19 protective measures remain in place in order to protect all members of our communities/congregations.  We have increased our capacity but still have a row between pews.  We ask you to spread out as much as possible and those experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms should not attend.  Continue to sanitise on entry and departure, wear masks and social distancing insofar as possible.

We are happy to say these ceremonies are taking place and thanks to all our schools and parents/guardians for their outstanding co-operation.

Attendance at a Funeral Mass now follows the same guideline as other Masses.  

Please contact the office or email to arrange.  Attendances at Baptism is limited to 20.

Welcome to the website for our Parish. Hopefully you will find this website useful for information about what is happening in our Parish. If you have any queries, please phone (021) 4311244 or email [email protected].