| Friday 23rd February, 2007 You are here: Home - 23rd February 2007 Index Page |
GAA President encourages Protestants
to play Gaelic games
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Nickey Brennan (left) with Philip McKinley |
Philip McKinley talks to GAA
President, Nickey Brennan
The President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Mr Nickey Brennan, in an interview with the Church of Ireland’s Hard Gospel Project for the Gazette, has encouraged Protestants in the Republic and Northern Ireland to feel "welcome to come and play" and has said that "there is nothing within the GAA that will stop people from joining".
Mr Brennan’s comments come in the wake of the historical significance of the visit of the English rugby team to the home of Irish nationalism following the GAA’s amended Rule 42, which allows Croke Park to host rugby and soccer matches during the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road.
Editorial
Peaceful Prospects in North East Asia
The General secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Samuel Kobia, surely spoke for all the Churches when he welcomed the agreement reached on 13th February at the six Party Talks in Beijing in which Pyongyang pledged to close its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, in return for nuclear fuel. This, Dr Kobia said, was "a major breakthrough in efforts to restore peace and normality in the region". He added that the breakthrough vindicated the WCC’s long-standing policy of engagement and dialogue to resolve tension and conflict in North East Asia; the 9th October, 2006 nuclear testing by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea had prompted a quick response from the WCC that, amongst others, had called for the international community to put nuclear disarmament and non proliferation firmly back on track. Full Text
Home News
City centre emphasis on Christ Church Cathedral’s charity allocations
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Pictured at the handing over of a cheque to Our Lady’s Hospice are (left to right) Mairead Dillon, Hospice fundraiser; the Revd Mark Gardner, Dean’s Vicar; Mo Flynn, Chief Executive of Our Lady’s Hospice; Una Minogue, Hospice fundraiser; and Dean Desmond Harman. |
In a recent brief ceremony in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin the Dean, the Very Revd Desmond Harman, presented cheques to 17 charities. The funds distributed, which totalled some €17,000, were raised from the sale of peace candles in St Laud’s Chapel in the cathedral and also included a contribution from the cathedral’s collections during 2006.
There was a distinct Dublin city centre emphasis to many of the charities supported, amongst them, Merchant’s Quay Drugs Project, Trust, St Vincent De Paul, Protestant Aid, the Salvation Army’s Lafoy House, RADE (Recovery through Art Drama and Education) and the Harding Trust.
Evening events to focus on building sound marriage relationships
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Katharine Hill |
‘It Takes Two’ is an evening for all married couples, whether they are just starting out or have celebrated perhaps several decades together. The event will be sponsored by Care for the Family, a national charity which seeks to strengthen family life and help those who are suffering as a result of family breakdown. It will be hosted by Jean Gibson, the charity’s Northern Ireland Manager, and copresented by Katharine Hill, Care for the Family’s Marriage Project Manager, and Richard Hardy.
THE ROCK (Dysert Enos), Portlaoise
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Travellers on the new bypass which skirts Portlaoise on the Dublin to Cork and Limerick road will become more aware than ever of the spectacular twelfth-century ruins atop the Rock of Dunamaise which guards the valley to the south. The castle was occupied by the O’Moores from the late 14th century and was slighted by the Cromwellians.
African Churches encouraged to play greater role in Irish life
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Archbishop John Neill (right) greets Pastor Kunle Daniel. |
The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd John Neill, met recently with Pastor Kunle Daniel, chairperson of the Irish- African Pastors’ Alliance, to discuss ways of encouraging African Churches to become more involved in Irish life. Pastor Daniel said that his alliance, which represents a membership of over 20,000 in Ireland, was very keen to play a part in the forthcoming government and faith groups’ dialogue process. The meeting was organised by the Hard Gospel Project.
Farewell
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A Connor liturgical farewell Eucharist was held for Archbishop and Mrs Harper in St John’s, Malone, Belfast on Thursday 8th February. Pictured (top), Dean John Bond (left) makes a presentation to Archbishop Alan Harper on behalf of the Diocese of Connor after the service. Pictured (below), Betty Redfern (2nd right) and Fiona Forde (2nd left) make presentations to Helen Harper on behalf of the Connor Clergy Wives’ Fellowship, whilst Archbishop Harper looks on.
Thanksgiving Service
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Pictured is a group who attended a service of thanksgiving in Balteagh parish church, Limavady, Diocese of Derry at which a cheque was handed over to Bishops’ Appeal for the treatment of AIDS in Uganda.
New Wine Ireland to hold summer conference in Sligo
By Paul Jardine
Following the success of last year’s summer conference, New Wine Ireland has announced that this year’s event will be held in Sligo from Sunday 8th to Friday 13th July. The theme for the 2007conference will be ‘Cry Freedom’ and the special guest speaker will be Eric Sandras, author and teaching Pastor at the Desert Vineyard Christian Fellowship, California. Other contributors to the conference will include the Rt Revd Ken Clarke, Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, and Kathryn and Alan Scott, worship leader and leader respectively of the Causeway Coast Vineyard Church.
Cheque Presentation
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Canon Tom Haskins, vicar of St Ann’s, Dawson Street, Dublin, presents a cheque to Richard Carson, Director of Educational Training at ACET, the interdenominational agency for Aids Care Education and Training. Canon Haskins raised €25,000 in his Christmas Sitout on Dawson Street. The main beneficiaries from the 2006 Sitout were Bishops’ Appeal, St Vincent de Paul, Protestant Aid and the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association. Since its inception in 2002, the clergy Sitout at St Ann’s has raised €125,000.
Lent Thought - For our sake
By the Revd Simon Doogan
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Over the years, Lent for me has morphed into a necessary but often depressing postmortem: if there’s God, the people God has given me to love, and then me, am I sharing myself out fairly, productively and healthily? Probably not.
That’s when I reach for the old Collect for the first Sunday in Lent. Thank the Lord for those three words which will always distract me from the annual targetdriven, time-management inquest: "O Lord, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights". What good precisely did Christ’s time in the wilderness do for humanity?
World News: Primates’ Meeting
Primates engage in ‘intense listening’
By Matthew Davies
Intense listening, characterized by an expression of "patience, graciousness, care and respect" was the atmosphere in which the Primates gathered for the Primates’ Meeting near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 15th February, said Australia’s Archbishop Phillip Aspinall during a media briefing following the conclusion of their first day of sessions. "There has been no talk of schism in the meeting at all," he said. After considering a report from the Communion sub-group that was charged with monitoring the response of the Episcopal Church USA’s General Convention to the Windsor Report, the Primates - who saw the report for the first time on 15th February - concluded that a working group be established to document the day’s discussions and report back to them on the morning of 16th February. In its report, the sub-group reached consensus that although the Episcopal Church did not use the precise language of the Windsor Report, which called for a "moratorium" on the election of gay bishops and consent to those votes, "it probably did the most that could have been done, and the response to that request is adequate," said Archbishop Aspinall, who was joined at the briefing by Archbishop John Chew of Southeast Asia.
Soap
There was one dark cloud hanging over the Adams’ move to the refurbished St David’s rectory. And it worried them. It was Barney, their elderly and increasingly immobile golden labrador. Barney was in his fourteenth year and had been an active energetic dog when they moved to St Patrick’s eight years ago. They had been lucky in having a park nearby where Barney could run off his excess energy while Steve and Fiona walked at a more leisurely pace. And along one side of the park was a stream and a duck pond – a source of delight to Barney but frequently one of embarrassment for Steve.
Barney loved nothing better than a chase, especially of a duck. He would take off from the side of the pond into the water with an enormous splash to chase the ducks, and once they flew up into the air he would make for the bank and pursue them on foot. And no amount of calling or whistling had any effect. He was totally focused on ducks.
Focus on Tuam, Killala and Achonry
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Canon Aean Ferguson, Diocesan Communications Officer for Tuam, Killala and Achonry, contributes this month’s Diocesan Focus article
Welcome to the West, long neglected, but now at last acknowledged as an important and integral part of Ireland. Likewise, the Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry is a vital and vibrant part of the Church of Ireland, contributing much to the life of the Church. Our last Focus article emphasised the diocese’s involvement with the local community at all levels, but we are also fully involved in the Church, both nationally and internationally. Generally speaking, this Focus covers the Killala and Achonry parts of the diocese; next time, it will concentrate on Tuam.
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The Revd Kathy Southerton and Canon Doris Clements are pictured at the Mothers’ Union Diocesan festival service held in St Nicholas’ Collegiate church, Galway. |
CANON DORIS CLEMENTS
We even have our own representative to the United Nations. Canon Doris Clements, assistant priest in the Kilmoremoy Union of Parishes, will be attending the 51st Congress of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in New York, from February to March, as a member of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) delegation and representing the Church of Ireland. Eighty delegates from around the world are invited to attend, including one each from Ireland, England and Scotland. The topic this year is ‘The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child’.
Canon Clements has also been appointed to represent Ireland on the steering group of the International Anglican Women’s Network (IAWN). Her role as an IAWN provincial link will be to help ensure that those leading the Anglican Communion hear the voices of women around the world. Her name was put forward for these appointments because of her role as an ordained priest in the Church of Ireland, her involvement on various Church committees at diocesan and national level and her increased involvement with the Mothers’ Union (MU). She was recently elected as All-Ireland Co-ordinator of the Faith and Policy Unit of the MU, and is the MU Diocesan Chaplain and a Diocesan Vice-President.
Musings
Anticipation
I’m going to Rome. A kind person gave me the trip as a birthday present. Husband is coming too, of course, although his contribution to the preparation will be made about 11.30pm the night before our 5.30am exit. "Darling," he will say, "I expect all my clothes are laundered for our impending departure." And I shall reply: "Yes, my love, of course they are. They are arranged in neat piles beside our matching suitcases." Or words to that effect! Do you ever feel that the anticipation of a holiday is, in fact, the best part? I’m not sure how good I am at these short breaks. To start with, they always seem to coincide with youngest child’s rare bout of sickness; months will have passed and she will have been perfectly healthy and then, days before we are due to leave, she will be smitten with some ailment, so guilt combines with anxiety in her mother to produce obsessive hysteria.
News Extra
Marriage and family ‘under threat’
The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has said that marriage and family and, therefore, society as a whole are currently under threat because of recent UK government legislation. Speaking to a panel of religious experts, MPs and journalists at a recent ‘Faith Under Fire’ symposium hosted by London-based Premier Media Group, Bishop Nazir-Ali said: "If Christians are upset about some pieces of recent legislation, it’s because those vital, basic institutions [marriage and family] are under threat, therefore society as a whole is under threat."
Cork lecture
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Archbishop Barry Morgan |
A public lecture entitled ‘Scripture and Sexuality: Our commitment to Listening and Learning’ will be given by the Most Revd Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales and a member of the Lambeth Commission, in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork on Saturday 3rd March at 8.00pm. (For further information, tel. (021) 420 1860, or email: dco@cork.anglican.org.)
New film on William Wilberforce
Based on the life of William Wilberforce, the major new Hollywood film, Amazing Grace, is the story of the anti-slavery campaigner’s faith in God and passion for justice. Wilberforce committed 20 years of his life to awakening the conscience of a nation and ending the dehumanising slave trade in the British Empire. The release coincides with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the UK.