Diocesan News
‘The Glory of Easter’ – Arrangements for the Farewell Service for Bishop Paul Colton are announced by the Diocesan Council of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
The Diocesan Council of Cork, Cloyne and Ross has announced that the final Service in which Bishop Paul Colton will participate as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross will be held in Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork on Saturday, 18th April next.
Due to the limited number of seats, all seats for people from the Diocese and for visitors have already been allocated. All those who already hold a pass for an allocated seat are asked to be seated no later than 3.30 p.m. People are asked not to attend unless they have already been allocated a pass for a seat.
However, it will also be possible to watch the Service online at www.churchservices.tv/corkstfinbarre commencing at 3.45 p.m.
In choosing the date and timing of the Service, Bishop Paul Colton explained that he wanted to go into retirement, and he wanted everyone in the Diocese to go forward into their next stage led by a new bishop, ‘with a spring in our step,’ The Service on Saturday 18th April is, therefore, a Diocesan Celebration of Easter with the theme ‘The Glory of Easter’.
This is a significant moment in the life of the Church of Ireland in Cork as Bishop Colton has been the longest serving Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross since 1617 and, of the serving bishops in the Church of Ireland, was the last to be consecrated in the Twentieth Century.
The preacher at the Service will be Bishop and Mrs Susan Colton’s friend of many years, the Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, a renowned writer, preacher, speaker with a strong commitment to human rights.
The congregation of nearly 500 people from the Diocese, and all the serving clergy and commissioned lay workers of the Diocese, will be joined by ten bishops including Bishop Fintan Gavin (Cork and Ross), Bishop John Buckley (Bishop Emeritus) and Bishop William Crean (Cloyne). Bishop Colton’s fellow Diocesan bishops from the Southern Province will attend: Bishop Patricia Storey (Meath and Kildare); Bishop Michael Burrows (Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe) and Bishop Adrian Wilkinson (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory). Bishop Michael Ipgrave ( Lichfield, England), Bishop Johan Dalman (Strängnäs, Sweden) and Bishop Bo–Göran Åstrand (Porvoo, Finland) will be present, along with the former Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Richard Clarke.
At the end of the Service, Bishop Colton will return his crozier (pastoral staff) and, in a powerful symbol of looking to the future, entrust it to two young people, two young adults and two lay people before it is returned to the Cathedral treasury by the Canon Treasurer where it will await the election and consecration of a new bishop in the coming months.
Diocesan Media & Information Technology Officer
087 7055 989
Ms Denise Stobart
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