Ordination of Priest for Cloyne Diocese

The ordination of the first priest from the parish of Cúil Aodha in West Cork to the Diocese of Cloyne in over 70 years provided the Papal Nuncio with the opportunity to pay tribute to the Irish Church’s long tradition of providing vocations to the priesthood.


In his homily, delivered at the ordination Mass of Fr Damien Lynch at the Church of St Gobnait, Ballyvourney, Co Cork, Archbishop Charles J Brown rejoiced that the, “Church in Ireland is alive.  A new priest is about to be ordained.  The Faith continues.”


The Apostolic Nuncio described the ordination of the 26-year-old priest as, “an incredibly significant event in the life of the Church.” He told the congregation gathered for the occasion, “For one thousand and five hundred years, Ireland has seen men ordained to the Catholic priesthood, and today history has brought us to the moment in which the newest priest, the latest priest in that line stretching back to Patrick and Palladius, will be ordained here in Ballyvourney.”  He added that, with the ordination of a new priest, the Church continues to live.



“Damien Lynch, like every priest, is ordained today in order to celebrate the Holy Eucharist; to feed the flock of Christ.  To feed them by giving them Christ himself in the Holy Eucharist,” Archbishop Brown explained.  He underlined that knowing and loving God is an, “indispensable requirement for following the Lord as a priest,” and in order to respond to the mission Jesus gave his followers of feeding his sheep.
“That is what a priest is sent to do: to feed, to nourish, to lead people to God.  God, who is the source of all life, natural and supernatural.  
The priest’s mission of feeding is most fully expressed in his celebration of Holy Mass,” the Nuncio stated.


The newly ordained priest, who joined the seminary straight from school, celebrated his first Mass on Monday in his native Seipéal Chúil Aodha, in the Gaeltacht area of West Cork.  Fr Damien is the only son of Gerard and Nora Lynch.  After completing his Leaving Certificate in 2004, he began his studies for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He is due to be assigned to a parish in Cloyne in the coming weeks.


Above article from Catholic Ireland website.  Picture of Fr. Damien from Cloyne Diocese website.