It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the web site of Saint Anne’s Catholic Parish here in the Diocese of Down and Connor. Our Parish which has had a long and fascinating role in the development of the Catholic faith history in the greater Belfast area, is a thriving Eucharistic community, a Parish Family of all ages, shown in the diversity of its people, their cultures, Parish activities and groups.
As Parish Priest I hope you will find our web site informative and helpful in finding out about our Church and community.
Our aim is to offer some insight into our Parish community. You can find information about the various parish groups, the times of Mass through the week along with other important general Parish information and administration procedures. I hope you find the information helpful and user-friendly.
It is my desire that the site be used to encourage communication both within our Parish and beyond, in the sharing of our faith, in developing our community, and helping each other to grow spiritually with the aid of the resources provided in our Parish.
We are a thriving, energetic, lively, and socially mixed Parish community who try to support each other and engage with other Christian Churches in our area. We welcome visitors from all Churches, from other Faiths, from those who do not share our beliefs and people from all backgrounds. In sharing our activities and thoughts we enrich each other and seek to bring about greater understanding and harmony between our communities.
We have a well established Parish Pastoral Council which acts as a consultative body to assist me and members of our clergy and contributes towards the spiritual life of our Parish community. The Council is always creating new and exciting developments within our Parish.
You will see we have over forty active groups offering a wide variety of activities and therefore I extend a welcome to all existing and new parishioners to join one or more of these groups and become an active member of our Parish Community.
And of course we are always looking for volunteers to help in any way! So if you are new to the Parish, please do make contact with our Parish Office or see one of our Ministers of Welcome who are present at weekend masses.
We are also fortunate to have the Ministry of a Parish Sister in Saint Anne’s. Sister Mary Murray is a member of The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary based in the Parish.
Her Ministry involves a variety of roles such as bringing the Eucharist to those who are ill and housebound, working with the Liturgy and Baptism Teams, preparing the Readers and Eucharistic Ministers, helping to organise Lectio Divinia, and serving as an ex-officio member on the Parish Council, plus many other activities.
I am sure that your experience of Parish life in Saint Anne’s will be supportive of your faith, as we journey together following in the footsteps of the Lord.