A major review of the Ossory Diocesan Forum has resulted in a decentralised structure which will be more locally based.
The Forum will begin its new four-year term on Easter Sunday, April 12. In the coming weeks a lay representative of each parish, and priests and religious representing each Deanery, will be elected.
Formed in 2004, the Forum completed its first term in 2007. That term was extended so that an extensive re-evaluation could be carried out.
The most significant outcome of the re-evaluation has been the move from a centrally based Forum to a Deanery based one. There are three Deaneries in the Diocese, northern, middle and southern, each consisting of a number of adjoining parishes in that area.
In an open letter to the people of the Diocese, Bishop Seamus Freeman stressed the importance of such a Forum in these troubled times, both in terms of the economy and of the faith.
