Diocese of Ossory

The Pope John Paul II Award

  • Home
  • The Award Explained
    • The Gold Award
    • The Silver Award
    • The Bronze Award
    • The Papal Cross Award
  • Award Resources
  • Participating Diocese
  • Contact Ossory Award Office

Pope John Paul II Award Logo

Diocese of Ossory

Find out moreApplication & other materials

The Pope John Paul II Award

The Pope John Paul II Award encourages you to go beyond your comfort zone on a journey of self-discovery. It challenges you to give of your time, your talents, your intellect, and your social skills for the well-being of others and for the Glory of God.”

The Pope John Paul II Award enables participants to take an active part in the life of their Church - in the life of their community and society. It also enables young people become more aware of the teaching and role of the Catholic Church in the world and to engage at a deep level with Christ.
The Award is committed to helping young people enhance their spiritual, physical, emotional and social development through participation in school, parish and community activities.

A message from the Bishop of Ossory

Recently, a book has been published with the title "When a Pope asks Forgiveness - The Mea Culpa's of John Paul II". The book is dedicated to the emphasis Pope John Paul gave during his many pastoral visits, all over the world, to the need of apology in the face of historical and contemporary injustices and abuse of all sorts. The book catalogues 95 issues that merited an apology during his many pastoral visits. In the face of social brokenness and cruel injustice and abuse, apology is always part of the mending. I do believe that the introduction of the John Paul Awards to the Diocese of Ossory by the Knights of St Columbanus will help to re-generate the sense of the Christian need to reach out to the many needs of our neighbours. A great example of this missionary initiative is the 40 to 50 young boys and girls who volunteer to travel on the Lourdes Pilgrimage to help with the care of the sick and infirm pilgrims. This experience has been a wonderful experience for young students of Transition Year. In fact, for many of the students this pilgrimage experience has been one of the highlights of their time in Secondary School. They experience an essential aspect of being a Christian, namely, laying down some time of one’s life for the care of the neighbour.
I believe that the introduction of the John Paul II Award to the Diocese of Ossory will be a similar experience for the many young people who will participate in this initiative. It is very heartening to see such a great interest of people in this apostolic project. This initiative will encourage and foster the participation of young people in the life of our parishes, inviting them to express their Christian faith, hope and love and to build up the missionary life of the Church.

I commend this project to the youth of the Diocese, and I pray that all involved with be greatly blessed by God.

+ Séamus Freeman, SAC
Bishop of Ossory

The Award in the Diocese of Ossory

There are 4 Awards - Gold, Silver, Bronze & Papal Cross

Each Award is completed over a 16 month period beginning at the start of the academic year.
Awards are earned by taking part in parish and social activities – 1 hour per week over 8, 14, 20 or 26 weeks.

Those that have completed the Gold Award have a further option of completing the Papal Cross Award.

Gold AwardSilver AwardBronze AwardPapal Cross Award

Diocese of Ossory Award Top-Up Suggestions

Award Top-Ups are given in recognition of the extra activities that Award participants are already involved in.

Top-Ups will go towards the total number of hours an individual has to complete.

Papal Cross: 7.5 hours
Gold: 6 hours
Silver: 4.5 hours
Bronze: 3 hours
Top-Ups can be achieved in a number of ways, for example:

Parish & Diocesan Pilgrimages
Many parishes organise pilgrimages, either
specifically for young people, or for the wider
parish community, but open to young people.
Participation in this type of activity can be part of
the Pope John Paul II Award.

Training for Ministry
During the year, the Diocesan Youth Ministry Team
will extend an invitation for young people to
participate in training programmes. These training
events can also be part of the Pope John Paul II
Award.

There may be other activities that you are involved
in that are not included here but may be relevant, if
so please contact the Pope John Paul II Award
Committee for approval.

Downloads

Award Handbook

The Award handbook explains in detail how the Award is run and who is responsible for running the Award in your diocese.

Diocese of Ossory Award Handbook
Download

Award Resources

The following forms are required to be completed by each Award participant. Your Award leader will be able to assist you with any questions you have.

Participants Application Form
Download

Award Record Cards
View

Record Card Guidelines
Download

Reflection Guidelines
Download

Reflection Template
Download

The Award runs in Ireland and the UK, find your diocese below.

If you are an Award participant, you can find all materials required to complete your Award on your Diocese Award page

The Award

  • The Award Explained
  • The Gold Award
  • The Silver Award
  • The Bronze Award
  • The Papal Cross Award
  • The Role of the Diocesan Coordinator
  • The Role of an Award Leader
  • Participants Code of Ethics
  • Safeguarding Information
  • See the Award at Work
  • Hear from Award Participants
  • Participating Diocese

About Us

  • The Award Team
  • Award News
  • Award Resources
  • JPII Award Logo for Download
  • Our Privacy Policy

Contact Ossory Award Office

By telephone:
056 777 0261

By email:
ossoryjpii@gmail.com

By post:
The Pope John Paul II Award Office
St. Kieran's College
College Road
Kilkenny

  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Contact Head Office

© Copyright 2016 The Pope John Paul II Award | Design & build by Octoberstone