Ordination of Mgr Noel Treanor as Bishop of Down and Connor

Images from Mass for the Solemntity of SS Peter and Paul

Pontiff and Patriarch at the Niche of the Pallia

Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I stand in front of the tomb of Saint Peter at the end of a Solemn Mass to celebrate the feast of Ss Peter and Paul in Saint Peter’s Basilica, June 29th 2008. During this Mass the Pontiff conferred the pallium on 40 residential archbishops from throughout the world.

Down and Connor Ordination Online

The episcopal ordination of Monsignor Noel Treanor can be viewed online at http://www.stpeterscathedralbelfast.com/

Episcopal Ordination in Belfast

Today, 29th June 2008, St Peter's Cathedral in Belfast will witness the first ordination of a Bishop of Down and Connor since the consecration of Dr Daniel Mageean in 1929.

Monsignor Noel Treanor (pictured above with his predecessor, Dr Patrick Walsh), will be ordained as 32nd Bishop of the united Diocese of Down and Connor by Sean Cardinal Brady, Archbishop of Armagh. The co-consecrators will be Dr Walsh and Dr Joseph Duffy, Bishop of Clogher (Monsignor Treanor's native diocese).

Pauline Year 2008-2009

Yesterday evening His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI attended Solemn Vespers at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls to inaugurate a special year dedicated to the bimillennium celebrations of the birth of the Apostle Paul.

For further information visit: http://www.annopaolino.org/

New Vicar General for Rome

Pope Benedict XVI today accepted the resignation of Cardinal Camillo Ruini as Vicar General for His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome and as Archpriest of the Lateran Archbasilica and appointed Cardinal Agostino Vallini as his replacement. Until today Cardinal Vallini was serving as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He in turn has been replaced in that position by Raymond Leo Burke, until now Archbishop of Saint Louis.

New Form of Papal Pallium

A report in tomorrow's Osservatore Romano reveals that a new form of the Papal Pallium will be revealed at the celebrations for the solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul, 29th June.

Irish Venue for 2012 Eucharistic Congress

At the conclusion of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the next Congress, the 5oth, will be held in Dublin. Dublin last hosted the Eucharistic Congress in 1932.

Summer's in

Pope Benedict XVI wearing the Saturno at today's General Audience.

Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in London

Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos prior to the celebration of Pontifical Mass at Westminster Cathedral, London, Saturday, June 14, 2008.

Benedict in Brindisi

Celebrating Mass during his pastoral visit to Brindisi (the 10th such visit within Italy since his 2005 election), this image of Pope Benedict XVI reveals the papal dalmatic beneath His Holiness' chasuble.

Bush in the Tower

Earlier today Pope Benedict XVI met with US President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in the Torre San Giovanni, located in the Vatican Gardens. The tower was restored during the pontificate of Blessed John XXIII and used as a retreat by him.

Pope Benedict XVI on Columbanus

Below follows the text of Pope Benedict's discourse during the General Audience of Wednesday 11th June.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today’s catechesis we turn to Saint Columban, one of the many Irish monks who contributed to the re-evangelization of Europe in the early Middle Ages. Columban made his monastic profession in Bangor and was ordained a priest. At the age of fifty, he left the monastery to begin missionary work in Europe, where entire regions had lapsed into paganism. Beginning in Brittany, Columban and his companions established monasteries at Annegray and Luxeuil. These became centres for the spread of the monastic and missionary ideals brought by the monks from their native Ireland. Columban introduced to Europe the Irish penititential discipline, including private confession. His stern moral teachings led to conflict with the local Bishops and the Frankish court, resulting in the exile of the Irish monks, first to the Rhineland and then to Italy. At Bobbio, where he established a great monastic centre, Columban worked for the conversion of the Arian Lombards and the restoration of unity with the Bishop of Rome. It was there that he died, leaving behind not only the example of an austere monastic life, but also a corpus of writings which shaped the monastic culture of the Middle Ages and thus nourished the Christian roots of Europe.

Blessed John XXIII - 45th Anniversary

25.XI.1881 - 3.VI.1963

Now THAT'S what I call a mitre!

Archbishop Malcolm Albert Ranjith, Secretary of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, pictured following the diaconal ordinations of members of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Wigratzbad (Bavaria) last Saturday.