A review of the press
Ashes to Go @ CUH
Cork diocese – Ash Wednesday (22 February) will be observed at the Chapel of Christ the Healer, Cork University Hospital this year with a novel way for patients, staff and visitors to reflect. At 07:30 and again at 12:00 there will be two short services of reflection and the imposition of ashes for those who wish to receive them as a potent biblical symbol of our brokenness and mortality -themes which illness can bring into a gritty foreground of experience.
http://churchofirelandcork.com/2012/02/21/ashes-to-go-cuh/
Lenten lunch addresses begin at St Columb’s Cathedral, Derry
Derry Journal – Well known journalist Alf McCreary is the speaker today.
http://www.derryjournal.com/community/lenten_lunch_addresses_begin_at_st_columb_s_cathedral_tomorrow_1_3544364
Bishop’s widow praises C of I’s gay clergy
Speaking on RTE radio’s ‘The GOD SLOT’ this week Dr Elizabeth Butler, widow of Rt. Revd. Arthur Butler, a former Bishop of Connor, praised the Church of Ireland’s gay clergy. Referring to gay clergy in the Church’s northern province she said, ”There was a memorial service for a gay clergyman not more than a couple of weeks ago. There were 400 plus people there, and he did more in his pastoral ministry than I believe could be achieved by the average clergyman”.
Dr Butler, who was a consultant at the Royal Group of Hospitals, Belfast, is a contributor to a new book called “Moving Forward Together: Homosexuality and the Church of Ireland” edited by Canon Ginnie Kennerly and Dr Richard O’Leary. In the radio discussion she described her journey towards knowledge and acceptance of gay persons and said that “staying with a dedicated homosexual couple was an example of Christian life which I would love to be able to emulate”.
Following the civil partnership of Dean Tom Gordon last summer, the Church of Ireland has convened a special conference on ‘sexuality’ which will take place in County Cavan on 9th- 10th March.
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thegodslot/
Border debate is irrelevant – priest
News Letter – No Roman Catholic priests under the age of 45 are interested in removing the border and many Catholics are re-thinking their nationalism, a Catholic priest has said. Fr Eugene O’Neill said that many Catholics were questioning whether as Catholics they necessarily had to be nationalist and look to Dublin when the United Kingdom was more respectful of Christian churches. Fr O’Neill was speaking to the News Letter following a broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster’s Thought For The Day earlier yesterday morning. In comments backing up polls which suggest that many Catholics would now vote to retain the border, Fr O’Neill said that as an Irish passport-holder he saw the Queen and senior British government figures as defenders of faith in the UK. And, in a blistering attack on the Dublin government which shows how far the church and the state have moved apart in the Republic, Fr O’Neill claimed that there were similarities between how the Irish government is making life difficult for churches and how repressive communist regimes have persecuted Christians. The Republic is now “a cold house for Catholicism”, he told the News Letter, singling out the atheistic Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore for particular rebuke.
Read more – http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/border_debate_is_irrelevant_priest_1_3542327
Overhaul of Catholic education in Derry
BBC – The Catholic church in Londonderry is proposing to end single-sex schools and phase out academic selection.The plans are contained in a discussion paper which sets out the church’s strategic vision for post-primary education in the diocese. Full details of the proposals are available on the Derry diocesan website and the public is being invited to respond before the end of May. The document is part of the wider review of Catholic education. It proposes that the city’s three grammar schools – Lumen Christi College, St Columbs College and Thornhill College – begin the process of phasing out academic selection.
Read more – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-17110196
Also – http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/catholic_schools_shake_up_plan_1_3544432
Lenten prayer and fasting for healing and renewal of the Church in Ireland
Catholic Bishops Conference – RC Bishops ask faithful to offer Lenten prayer and fasting for healing and renewal of the Church in Ireland
Read more – http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2012/02/21/bishops-faithful-offer-lenten-prayer-fasting-healing-renewal-church-ireland/
Irish President Michael D Higgins visiting London
BBC News – Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, is making his first visit to London since taking office. It is not a state visit and Mr Higgins will not be meeting any members of the Royal Family. However, an official state visit to Britain – the first since Ireland became a republic – is expected within the next three years. Mr Higgins recently succeeded President Mary McAleese, who last year hosted the Queen’s first visit to Ireland. On his two-day visit to London, he will be attending a function at the Irish Centre in Camden. The president will make a speech at the London School of Economics entitled ‘Of public intellectuals, universities and a democratic crisis’. He will be shown around the Olympic stadium by Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman. A great lover of the arts, Mr Higgins will also be attending a production of Juno and the Paycock at the Lyttelton Theatre.
Read more – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17101436
Royal Irish in Afghanistan
Irish Times – In a follow up to last week’s RTE radio programme an Irish Times news article on the same subject.
Read more – http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0218/1224311952193.html