Cork school to host launch of Catholic Schools Week

A Cork school has been chosen for the first time to host the national launch of Catholic Schools Week which invites schools across the island to give expression to the ethos of Catholic education through a variety of events.

Mount Mercy College on Model Farm Road in Cork, which has 800 students and 60 staff, was chosen to launch the event which runs from January 31st untilFebruary 6th.

According to the Catholic Communications Office, the theme of the week is Catholic Schools: Challenged to proclaim God's Mercy, and it complements the Year of Mercy which was launched by Pope Francis in December.

The Catholic Schools Week programme will be launched on January 26th at Mount Mercy before representatives from 25 primary and secondary schools in the Cork city area.

Principal of Mount Mercy Padraigín Uí Riordáin said the school was looking forward to the event.

“We are delighted to be chosen to launch this national celebration of Catholic education. We look forward to welcoming the wider Catholic community to our school in Cork for this special event,” she said.

“The words of Pope Francis ‘Mercy is the spirit that awakens us’ will inspire the community of Mount Mercy to participate wholeheartedly in, and celebrate, this spiritually enriching occasion at a milestone in our school tradition, having just celebrated our Golden Jubilee.”

Ms Uí Riordáin said both the Year of Mercy and the official launch of Catholic Schools Week, would afford the school an opportunity to focus on its traditions and at the same time to promote the Christian values of tolerance, respect and inclusiveness.

Students from Mount Mercy as well as pupils from Saint Pius X primary school in Templeogue, Dublin, will participate in this special liturgy, to be broadcast by RTÉ on January 31st, marking the beginning of Catholic Schools Week across Ireland.