Pope John Paul II Award Ceremony - 2015

The Pope John Paul II Award Ceremony in the Diocese of Elphin took place in the College of the Immaculate Conception, Sligo on the 13th May 2015.  56 candidates received Papal Cross, Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

The ceremony was attended by Bishop Kevin Doran, Barry McMahon (Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbanus), Local Area Knights, School Principals, Award Leaders, Teachers, Priests, Parents, Family and Friends of Awardees.

Nicola Corcoran, 2014 Galway Rose, was the guest speaker and her personal faith testimony and words of encouragement for our young people were greatly appreciated by all in attendance.

Five of the Awardees shared personally and profoundly about their experience of partaking in the Award. They and all of the other young people who received their awards are a credit to their families, parishes and schools and are to be commended for their committment and engagement over the past year.

The John Paul II Award Initiative was launched in the Diocese in 2012 through the Diocesan Youth Ministry Office. This was made possible by the very generous sponsorship of the Knights of Columbanus who funded the entire cost of the setup and launch of this fantastic initiative. Thanks to the Knights, the Award is now established and running in 19 Dioceses. So again the Diocese extends its sincere thanks to the Knights for supporting the Church’s mission in such a practical way and facilitating the handing on of our Catholic faith to the next generation.

In his address on the night Bishop Kevin congratulated the young people and thanked them for giving their time and energy to their local parishes, schools and communities. He shared some thoughts and reflections on Pope Saint John Paul Ii and his commitment to young people.  Bishop Kevin also expressed his desire to make himself available to the young people in whatever way that would be helpful in order to help them grow in their faith.

The evening was greatly enriched by the musical talents of choirs from the Ursuline College Sligo and the College of the Immaculate Conception Sligo.

Sincere thanks to the College of the Immaculate Conception, Mr. Paul Keogh, Principal, Ms Maura Murphy and the Board of Management for making their beautiful school available to us for this wonderful celebration again.

For more information on the Pope John Paul II Award please visit www.elphinyouthmintry.ie or contact Frank McGuinness, Director of Youth Ministry on 087 9880690

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Pope John Paul II Award Ceremony 2014 (2)

The Pope John Paul II Award Ceremony in the Diocese of Elphin took place in Summerhill College, Sligo on the 15th May 2014.  122 candidates received Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

The ceremony was attended by Bishop Christopher Jones, Barney Burns (Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbanus), Barry McMahon (Deputy Supreme Knight), Local Area Knights, School Principals, Award Leaders, Teachers, Priests and Parents.

Ger Brennan, Centre back on the Dublin Senior Football team was the guest speaker and his personal faith testimony and words of encouragement for our young people were greatly appreciated by all in attendance.

Two of the Awardees, Oisín Kelly (Summerhill College) and Niamh Fannon (Scoil Mhuire, Roscommon) shared personally and profoundly about their experience of partaking in the Award. They are both a credit to their families, parishes and schools and are to be commended for their confident and professional presentations on the night.

The John Paul II Award Initiative was launched in the Diocese over two years ago through the Diocesan Youth Ministry Office. This was made possible by the very generous sponsorship of the Knights of Columbanus who funded the entire cost of the setup and launch of this fantastic initiative. Thanks to the Knights, the Award is now established and running in 19 Dioceses. So again the Diocese extends its sincere thanks to the Knights for supporting the Church’s mission in such a practical way and facilitating the handing on of our Catholic faith to the next generation.

In his address on the night Bishop Jones congratulated the young people and thanked them for giving their time and energy to their local parishes, schools and communities. He expressed his hope that through their experience of the Award they would be encouraged to continue to give time to the practice of their faith and service to the community. He particularly thanked the Award Leaders, those adults who coordinated the various activities in which the young people participated and commended them for being the first to take the lead on this fantastic initiative in their local parishes and communities.

Thanks to Summerhill College, Mr. Tommy McManus Principal, Ms Margaret Dowd (Vice Principal) and the Board of Management for making their beautiful new school available for the historic occasion.

For more information on the Pope John Paul II Award please visit www.elphinyouthmintry.ie or contact Frank McGuinness, Director of Youth Ministry on 087 9880690

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