Concise overviews of 12 reports with links to media sources.
Pro-lifers could still win in Irish referendum
David Quinn writes in The Catholic Herald – The battle to save the right to life of the unborn is now well and truly under way in Ireland. It is a struggle that will resonate in Britain. If those of us on the pro-life side win, it will be a big shot in the arm for the pro-life movement everywhere. If we lose, the last major pro-life bastion in Western Europe will have fallen. It is with precisely this aim of overturning the current law that the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros gave $150,000 to Amnesty Ireland last year.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/february-9th-2018/against-all-odds-pro-lifers-could-still-win-irelands-referendum/
75 percent of irish doctors support 12 week access to abortion
Three out of every four GPs and hospital consultants are in favour of allowing unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks gestation, the most substantial survey of medics on the issue to date has found.A poll of almost 400 doctors compiled as Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed doctors can conscientiously object to performing abortions if the referendum is passed has made the conclusion, underlining a strong medical support for a more liberal abortion regime. The survey, to be published in today’s edition of Ireland’s longest-running medical trade newspaper the Irish Medical Times, asked all readers of the GP and consultant-focussed publication if they support or oppose the potential 12-week law due to be introduced if the Eighth Amendment is removed.
http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/ietopstories/~3/muMzhXaRhO0/75-of-doctors-support-12-week-access-to-abortion-466855.html
Presbyterian Moderator’s ‘farewell’ visit to Dublin and Munster Presbytery
The Presbyterian Moderator is undertaking an extensive week-long visit to the Dublin and Munster Presbytery. Rt Rev Dr Noble McNeely’s trip, which began February 4, is his third and final visit to a presbytery as Moderator before he leaves office in June.
The Dublin and Munster Presbytery has 32 congregations with 4,000 members. It covers 24 counties in the Republic, stretching from Kerry and Cork to Leitrim, Cavan and Louth.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/moderator-on-farewell-tour-across-republic-of-ireland-36565918.html
Holywood Parish says farewell to worker returning to serve in Peru
Holywood Parish has said farewell to Lizbeth Varillas, their SAMS South AmericanMissionary Society) Fusion Worker, who is heading back home to Peru. The parish hosted a special afternoon tea for Lizbeth last Saturday when people of all ages got to say goodbye in person. The more formal presentations were made at the Sunday morning and evening services.
http://www.downanddromore.org/news/2018/02/Holywood-says-farewell-to-SAMS-Fusion-worker-Lizbeth
Lisburn parish donates £4,000 to charities to mark its 175th anniversary
Christ Church Parish, Lisburn, has presented cheques totalling more than £4,000 to representatives of the charities Action Multiple Sclerosis (Action MS) and Stepping Stones NI. The funds were raised through donations made as part of Christ Church’s recent 175th Anniversary celebrations, and a cheque for £2,006 was presented to a representative from each charity on Sunday February 4.
http://connor.anglican.org/2018/02/08/christ-church-lisburn-raises-4000-two-charities/
Saturday Night Live packs out St Donard’s
St Donard’s in Bloomfield hosted 120 plus young people representing 14 parishes in Down & Dromore, some of whom sent their groups for the first time. The speaker this month was Donna Neill, Youth and Children’s Worker in St Mary’s, Ballybeen. Donna spoke on Psalm 23 as part of the SNL series exploring what the Psalms say to us today. Sarah Myles from Willowfield led the SNL band and Charlotte Geddis from Holywood Parish co–hosted with our Diocesan Youth Officer, Tim Burns. The team had the happy problem of needing more chairs as attendance has steadily grown as SNL passes the halfway point in its 3rd year.
https://www.downanddromore.org/news/2018/02/Saturday-Night-Live-packs-out-St-Donards#.WnyD_4LLegQ
Armagh’s Charles Woods Singers invite applications
Application forms to become a member of the Charles Wood Singers, directed by @davidhconductor are now available on their website! Closing date for applications: 20 April 2018
http://charleswoodsummerschool.org/charles-wood-s …
Loretto girls’ school in South Sudan celebrates 10 years
In February 2006, Sr Orla Treacy stepped off a plane in Sudan ready to set up a girls’ boarding school in a remote region in the south of the country. She had been told the project was already under way and had reassured her parents she would be home in Ireland by the end of the year. However, the 33-year-old nun arrived at the site outside the town of Rumbek only to find an empty field with no buildings.
“We were told not to worry, that everything would be ready by Easter. It took two years for the building to reach the point where we could actually start, and then we discovered we were also supposed to open a primary school and clinic for the local community.”
Sr Treacy also faced the challenge of convincing local families to send their daughters to a secondary school in a country where only a third of girls enrol in primary school.
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/loreto-girls-school-in-south-sudan-celebrates-10-years-1.3371688
Day of Prayer in Enniskillen brings four churches together
A Day of Prayer in Enniskillen on 10th Feb – four different churches coming together to pray for the future of our community and land. http://www.fermanaghchurchesforum.org/?p=951
Church of England debates “reconciliation of presbyteral ministries” with Methodist Church
Proposals to “enable an interchange of presbyteral ministries” between the Church of England and the Methodist Church in Britain will be debated by the C of E’s General Synod tomorrow (Friday). The Synod is being asked to endorse further work on the proposals, which failed to reach unanimous support when they were debated by the House of Bishops. The Methodist Church grew as a separate denomination following splits from the Church of England in the late 18th century. There have been numerous proposals for closer communion between the two churches, but the sticking point continues to be the issue of ordination and the historic episcopate.
A joint report C of E – Methodist report, Mission and Ministry in Covenant, proposes to tackle this through the Episcopal consecration of future Presidents of the Methodist Conference “by bishops recognized by the Church of England as belonging within the historic episcopate.” The report says that as Methodist presbyters are ordained by the conference, over time all Methodist presbyters would have received episcopal ordination. In the meantime, the ministry of existing Methodist presbyters should be recognised, even though they have not been episcopally ordained – something the report describes as a “temporary anomaly”.
http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/02/church-of-england-debates-reconciliation-of-presbyteral-ministries-with-methodist-church.aspx
C of E to promote mutual flourishing over women bishops
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling on parishes to recommit to a 2014 agreement that allowed for women bishops but also promised traditionalists who oppose female ordination ‘mutual flourishing’. In a response to ‘fundamental’ challenges posed by the resignation of the conservative Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley, from his promotion to Bishop of Sheffield, the Church’s independent reviewer said ‘not nearly enough’ had been done to educate clergy and laity about the settlement.
More at –https://www.christiantoday.com/article/church-of-england-panel-to-promote-mutual-flourishing-over-women-bishops/125442.htm
Catholics plan mass-rosary prayer around the British coast
After similar events in Poland and Ireland, Catholics plan to pray the rosary around the coast on Great Britain in April this year.
The event, which is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, will mark 50 years since the Abortion Act coming into effect.
Organisers say the mass-rosary prayer will help combat the “present threats to faith, the dignity of the human person and to peace”, and encourage a “re-flourishing of our Faith”.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/02/07/catholics-plan-mass-rosary-prayer-around-the-british-coast/
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