The Net - June 2024

Date: 2024-07-15

The June 2024 edition of 'The Net', the monthly publication sharing the fruits of the faith in our parish communities within the Diocese of Derry a...

All welcome to Knock for World Day for Grandparents and Elderly on 28 July 2024

Date: 2024-07-15

Grandparents are our heritage and are essential members of our families and communities. That is why a special day, Grandparents Day in School, is ...

What does ‘Ordinary Time’ mean in the Church’s calendar?

Date: 2024-07-11

Q: I once heard a priest talk about Ordinary Time and that it didn't mean 'plain' or that other times were more important. Of course, I can't remem...

Towards October 2024: Second Instrumentum Laboris Published

Date: 2024-07-10

'Instrumentum Laboris', the text that will guide the work of the second session of the XVI (16th) Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod in October...

Bishops’ of Ireland statement on end of life care: Freedom to Live Fully, Until Death Comes

Date: 2024-07-09

"Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, ...

Blessed William Ward

Date: 2024-07-09

Feast date: Jul 26

Blessed Willam Ward was born William Webster in mid-16th century England. He was raised Protestant and converted to Catholicism in Spain, after having traveled there with a friend. He returned to England, where he successfully converted his mother. There, he was also frequently imprisoned for his faith.

At 40, he went to Belgium to study for the priesthood. As a Secular Franciscan, he took the name Fr. Wiliam Ward and traveled to Scotland where he was imprisoned for three years. He worked in London for the next 30 years, secretly ministering to the Catholic population and to the poor. He was eventually betrayed by a priest-hunter and sentenced to death. He died July 15, 1641. He is said to have died uttering the words: "Jesu...

Sts. Anne and Joachim

Date: 2024-07-09

Sts. Anne and Joachim

Feast date: Jul 26

On July 26 the Roman Catholic Church commemorates the parents of the Virgin Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne. The couple's faith and perseverance brought them through the sorrow of childlessness, to the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman who would give birth to Christ.

The New Testament contains no specific information about the lives of the Virgin Mary's parents, but other documents outside of the Biblical canon do provide some details. Although these writings are not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, they outline some of the Church's traditional beliefs about Joachim, Anne and ...