Pope Francis greets Archbishop Martin of Dublin in Philadelphia. Pope may visit Ireland for 2018 World Meeting of Families

Transcription

1 ! CNI Pope Francis greets Archbishop Martin of Dublin in Philadelphia Pope may visit Ireland for 2018 World Meeting of Families Pope Francis has announced that Ireland in 2018 will host the next World Meeting of Families fuelling speculation that a papal visit to Ireland is churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 1

2 on the cards to coincide with this major gathering of catholic families. September 29 The Pope made the announcement at the conclusion of the outdoor Mass for one million people attending the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia on Sunday evening. The news was conveyed to the Irish Church by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin who was in Philadelphia for the ceremony and was greeted by the Pope ahead of the liturgy. Previous World Meeting of Families have been held Rome in 1994, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1997, Rome again in 2000, Manila in the Philippines in 2003, Valencia, Spain, in 2006, Mexico City, in 2009, Milan in 2012, and Philadelphia The announcement comes just days before the inauguration of the 14th Ordinary General Assembly World Synod of Bishops which will take place in the Vatican from 5-26 October on The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary World. Responding to the announcement, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said that he hoped the holding of the Meeting in Ireland would be an occasion to take up the programme of the Synod to Page 2

3 strengthen the place of the family in handing on the faith in the face of many new challenges. The family in Ireland is strong and the Church is called to take up the challenge of ensuring that future Catholic generations are prepared to live their marriage as an itinerary of faith, he said. The date and the programme of the 2018 World Meeting of Families will be decided at a later stage in consultation with the Pontifical Council for the Family. The 2018 World Meeting of Families is expected to extend to various parts of Ireland and given the size of the country, the event will take on different dimensions to that of the Philadelphia event which concluded tonight. Welcoming the Pope s decision to choose Dublin, the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin said in a statement on Sunday evening, I am delighted to hear that Pope Francis has announced that the 9th World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin, and that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is in Philadelphia with our delegation to hear the news directly from the Holy Father. He recalled that the 50th International Eucharistic Congress which was held three years churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 3

4 ago in Dublin was a great celebration of faith for Ireland and it attracted pilgrims from all around the world. I am confident that the World Meeting of Families in 2018 will also be an uplifting event for all of us, the Archbishop of Armagh said. Papal tour of US shows why NI should not fear such a visit - News Letter Pope 'should go north in Irish visit' - Belfast Telegraph pope-should-go-north-in-irish-visit html Why has the Pope not visited Ireland for nearly 40 years? - The Journal.ie Co Down priest concelebrates Mass with Pope Francis - The Irish News irishnews/irishnews//news/northernirelandnews/ 2015/09/28/news/co-down-priest-concelebrates-masswith-pope-francis /content.html churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 4

5 Armagh Eamon Martin - challenge is to be faithful to the Church's teaching on marriage and the family Thousands of Catholic faithful from all over Ireland converged on Knock in Co Mayo at the weekend for a National Eucharistic Congress. Its focus was on supporting marriage and the family, a persistent theme of Pope Francis's papacy and one echoed at the World Meeting of Families he attended in Philadelphia as the Irish event took place. A synod of bishops at the Vatican next month will further consider how the Catholic Church should meet the pastoral challenges faced by its members today, and in a homily on Saturday at Knock's Marian Shrine, Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin said that the challenge facing it was "to find ways of remaining completely faithful to the Church's teaching on marriage and the family while at the same time reaching out in a compassionate and merciful way to those whose home and family situations are very different". churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 5

6 Thousands attended the National Eucharistic Congress at Knock, Co Mayo, at the weekend with a huge crowd processing through the grounds of the Marian Shrine Archbishop Martin said the Ireland of the 21st century was far removed from the Ireland of 1980, when he was starting his studies for the priesthood. "There has been a huge downturn in the numbers of Irish people who regularly practice their faith," he said. "The number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life has declined steeply: 79 churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 6

7 seminarians began their studies with me that year in Maynooth. "The Church in Ireland and indeed throughout the world has endured a dark and scandalous period in her history with revelations of child abuse together with a shameful betrayal of trust. "A wave of secularism has washed across Western Europe and, in its wake, many Irish people have drifted away from the sacraments; more families in Ireland are living their lives with little or no reference to God... "Could we ever have imagined 35 years ago that so much change would happen so quickly, especially to the role and standing of the Church in the lives, homes, communities, and thinking of the Irish people?" He suggested that a large part of the answer to meeting contemporary challenges was to nurture lay leadership. "I would like to see the day when every parish or pastoral area has a trained lay catechist who could work alongside the parish priest, parish pastoral council and school religious education coordinators in ensuring that the triad of home, school and parish are re-imagined for the 21st century," he said. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 7

8 PCI Global Mission s Secretary in Lebanon for Syria update Rev. Uel Marrs, Secretary of the Presbyterian Church Ireland s (PCI) Council for Global Mission, has arrived in Lebanon to be updated on the situation in Syria and the humanitarian relief efforts by PCI s partner church in the region, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). During his five-day visit, Uel Marrs will meet NESSL representatives and discuss the effects churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 8

9 of the ongoing war in Syria on their congregations and their work in providing humanitarian assistance to many in great need. Over one million Syrian refugees are now living in Lebanon, which shares a 233-mile border with Syria. One in five people now living in Lebanon is a refugee from Syria. Speaking before he left for the Middle East, Mr. Marrs said, The ongoing war in Syria and the refugee crisis is one of the greatest challenges Europe has faced in decades. It has been heart-breaking watching the television news reports of the devastation in Syria, the killing of so many people, the rise of ISIS, and of course the millions of people in desperate need who have been displaced, both within Syria, and those fleeing to other countries. Since the conflict began over four years ago, our partner church, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon has been providing assistance to thousands of displaced people in Syria and in Lebanon, many of whom are members of their congregations. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 9

10 A number of their churches and manses in Syria have been damaged in the war and members of the congregations killed, or dispersed as people have fled the fighting. But despite the destruction, NESSL has reported that members of the church continue to meet together, when and where they can, to worship the Lord together, and cry out for mercy and an end to the brutal conflict. I expect my visit to be very challenging, as I meet with refugees and church leaders hearing their stories first-hand. I hope that in some way I can encourage all those I meet who are engaged in this vital work and that my visit may also help PCI to assess how best to assist with the ongoing crisis, he said. Earlier in September, Presbyterian Moderator, Rt. Rev. Dr. Ian McNie, called the Church to prayer over the Syrian refugee crisis and also issued some practical guidance to congregations on how they can respond, both now and in the days ahead. After four and a half years of conflict in Syria, thousands of innocent civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands injured. The United Nations reports that over 11 million people have been displaced by the war around half of churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 10

11 Syria s pre-war population. Of those displaced, around 7.6 million are believed to be living in other parts of Syria, with the remainder living as refugees in other countries. An estimated 16 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance, both inside and outside Syria. Launch of new religious education programme for Catholic primary schools: Grow in Love Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick and chair of the Council for Catechetics launched the new curriculum and programme yesterday, Monday at Presentation Girls National School, Maynooth, Co Kildare. At the launch Ms Anne Hession, lecturer, Saint Patrick s College, Drumcondra, and lead curriculum writer addressed contemporary issues in religious education. Ms Maura Hyland (Director, Veritas) outlined Grow in Love format and content. Ms Fiona O Dwyer, special needs teacher Scoil Na Naomh Uilig, Rickardstown, churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 11

12 Newbridge, Co Kildare spoke on her use of Grow in Love in special needs education. This is the first time in the history of primary religious education that teachers have been offered, in the form of a curriculum, a structured outline of religious education as an academic discipline. Grow in Love (Veritas) is the religious education programme based on the curriculum and will be available for use in Junior and Senior (P1 and P2) classes from September The new Catholic Preschool and Primary School Curriculum for Ireland (2015) will be rolled out in all Catholic primary schools on the island of Ireland over the next four years. It is envisaged that the Grow in Love programme and other resources based on this outline will be developed to support teachers in their implementation of the curriculum. The purpose of the new curriculum is to guide and inform the teaching of pre-school and primary religious education. The curriculum uses an outcomes approach, emphasising the educational alignment between religious education and the other six areas of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Primary School Curriculum (1999) for the Republic of Ireland. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 12

13 The new Catholic Preschool and Primary School Curriculum for Ireland is addressed to bishops as patrons of Catholic schools, to teachers, to principals, to programme writers, to Diocesan Advisors and to lecturers in the field of primary religious education. Grow in Love is the education programme based on the new curriculum. Some of the content at various levels is different from the content that was taught in the previous Alive-O Teachers have been welcoming both the change and the continuity evident between one series and the next. The children s Grow in Love textbooks are designed to be used both in school and at home and each week, families are asked to help their children to do something related to Grow in Love for homework. The text books give the parents the resources to do this. This approach is in line with the vision contained in Share the Good News the National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland which sees home, parish and churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 13

14 school working together to share the faith with children. There are 2,858 Catholic primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, and 381 Catholic primary schools in Northern Ireland. The new curriculum and the new programme will be used in Catholic primary schools throughout the island. Carnalea Methodist church takes part in National Prayer Weekend The weekend of September saw Carnalea Methodist church, Bangor, take part in a National Prayer Weekend organised by the Crusade for World Revival (CWR). On the Sunday, Brother David Jardine from Interdenominational Divine Healing Ministries (DHM) took part in the service. Brother David talked about three channels of the grace of God in the ministry of healing: The ministry of prayer and laying on of hands and anointing with oil; The background prayers of others; Taking time daily to prayer for ourselves. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 14

15 Brother David Jardine with Neilson Wylie (Prayer Team Leader) and the Rev Fiona McCrea (Minister of Carnalea Methodist) Brother David also highlighted the importance of talking frankly with God in prayer, making our requests known. He pointed out that the Psalmist often pleaded with God for help and ended up praising God for all that God had done. The service concluded with a time of silent prayer after which there was an invitation for members of the congregation to receive prayer churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 15

16 from the church s prayer ministry team. Many took the opportunity to do this and found it a blessing. Ulster Day commemoration and Orange bannerette dedication service in Belfast Cathedral A banters has been dedicated for the Ulster Covenant Memorial LOL 1984 an Orange lodge which is comprised of students, graduates and staff members of the Ulster University who are also members of the Orange Institution at St Anne s Cathedral at an Evensong on Sunday afternoon. The date has particular relevance to the lodge given the fact that it was founded on the centenary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant, three years ago, and subsequently named after the seminal event in unionist history. Appropriately, a copy of the Ulster Covenant features prominently on the new bannerette, which is complemented by the lodge s logo, alongside images of Orange lilies and red poppies. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 16

17 Matthew Gray, Worshipful Master of LOL 1984,at the Ulster Day commemoration and bannerette dedication service at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast The bannerette was formally dedicated next to the tomb of former Unionist leader, Lord Carson, which is located within the Cathedral. Matthew Gray, Worshipful Master of LOL 1984, said the occasion was a special and momentous day for lodge members. He said: The fundraising and development of this bannerette has been a large undertaking by the lodge given that we were only constituted in 2012, and we greatly appreciate the support we churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 17

18 have received in making this a very poignant event. It was particularly fitting the dedication ceremony took place on the anniversary of our lodge s formation and in doing so marked the significance of Ulster Day. It was also symbolic St Anne s Cathedral should host the event given its proximity to the university s soon-to-be expanded Belfast campus, and we are indebted to Rev Alan McCann for officiating at the service. The Dean of Belfast,The Very Rev. John Mann, dedicated the new bannerette. East Belfast focus on Dublin Protestants, The Easter Rising and After This event Dublin Protestants: The Easter Rising and After in Willowfield Parish Church, Woodstock Road, Belfast, on Thursday 15th October 2015 at 7.30pm, will provide an insight into the lives of Southern Irish Protestants and how they might have related to their surroundings and the State during the First World War and on the eve of the Easter Rising in Dublin, and into the ordinary lived experience of churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 18

19 a Southern Irish Protestant today, 100 years later. September 29 The speakers are Dr Ian d Alton and Philip McKinley Dr Ian d Alton, a renowned historian whose work has focused on Southern Irish Protestantism, will enlighten us on the past while Philip McKinley, a member of the Church of Ireland from Dublin in his 30s, will give his own personal thoughts on the present. The evening will include a specially commissioned new piece of drama based on the speakers thoughts, developed by Belfast-based theatre company Partisan Productions. Admission free and refreshments provided. This is A Decade of Centenaries event in advance of 2016 anniversaries run jointly by the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group and the Unionist Centenaries Committee, with dramatic input from Partisan Productions. Appreciation of St Fin Barre's Director of Music On Sunday, 27th September, eight years after commencing as Director of Music at St Fin churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 19

20 Barre's Cathedral, Cork, Malcolm Wisener retired. His final Service was Evensong at the end of the Patronal Festival weekend of celebrations which began with the Ordination of a Priest on Saint Fin Barre's Day, 25th September. At the end of the Sunday morning Eucharist, the Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, paid tribute to Malcolm Wisener's tenure of the important office, as well as to his expertise and proven experience as a choral director, and in training both boy and girl choristers. Knowing that the Cathedral organ needed to be rebuilt, the Dean said that it was fortunate that Malcolm had experience of this type of project also. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 20

21 Dean Dunne said: A major part of Malcolm s tenure as Director of Music has been seeing through the rebuilding and restoration of the Cathedral Organ, from first conception of the idea through to the very end of final tuning and tweaking. Very few of you will be aware of the countless hours he spent with the organ builder here in the Cathedral, often late into the night, especially when it came to voicing and tuning the instrument - a mind-bendingly tedious task, note by note, pipe by pipe and stop by stop. The professionalism, patience and diplomacy Malcolm showed, from inception to completion, has been incredible. Whether dealing with criticism of the project from outside and from within, or during the dark days of financial and management issues of the project, Malcolm was probably the only one involved who managed to keep his cool and keep the rest of us on track to completion! On a personal level, I just want to say that Malcolm has been a pleasure to work with, not only because of his professionalism but also because of his deep understanding of the role of music in liturgy. On behalf of the Select Vestry, the Cathedral Chapter, the choir and congregation, Mary churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 21

22 Leland, Cathedral Warden, made a presentation to Malcolm. Then on behalf of the choir the Head Chorister, Paula, made their particular presentation. In reply, Malcolm spoke about the fact that there has been a choir in St Fin Barre's for more than 700 years and he expressed the hope that in that continuum of history he had made his own small contribution to the liturgy and worship of the Church. Belfast Cathedral Chapter appoints new canon The Rev Michael Parker, rector of Carnalea, Diocese of Down and Dromore, has been elected a canon of St Anne s Cathedral, Belfast, by the Chapter. Michael was ordained deacon in 1996 and following a four year curacy in St Mark s Dundela, became incumbent of St Gall s where he has ministered for 15 years. He is also a member of the Board of Christian Aid Ireland. Speaking of his election Michael said: It is a lovely thing to be elected to serve as a Chapter churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 22

23 Canon of Belfast Cathedral. I look forward to sharing in the life of the Cathedral community and getting to know more of its history and its people. I think sharing with the Dean in doing the Black Santa Christmas Sit out this winter will be special. As a member of the Board of Christian Aid Ireland I know just how much of a difference money raised by the Dean s Sit Out makes for some of the most needy in our own community and around the world. It is a fabulous effort each year that supports such a range of super charities. What a privilege to be a part of that effort! The Cathedral Chapter elects two canons and Michael will join the Rev Canon Brother David Jardine of Divine Healing Ministries. Recitals in Limerick and Derry On Wednesday the lunchtime recital in St Mary s cathedral, Limerick, will be given by Lorna Moore (soprano) and Fergal Warren (piano). Admission is free but there will be a retiring collection in aid of the Companions of St Mary s Cathedral Music. churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 23

24 Dr Martin Neary, Patron of the Cecil Frances Alexander Music Trust, former Organist & Master of the Choristers in Westminster Abbey, will return to St Columb s Cathedral, Derry, on Thursday for a weekend residency during the Harvest Thanksgiving. Dr Neary will give an organ recital on Friday evening and will conduct some workshops for the Choir. + Are you a Twitter user? Please click on TWITTER on home page to receive daily headlines from CNI + Facebook user? Click on FACEBOOK on home page to receive daily headlines + Please share CNI with your friends churchnewsireland@gmail.com Page 24