CHURCH OF IRELAND NOTES
For Saturday 1st July 2000
From: The RCB
Library
Email: RCB Library
EU Church Commission meets Russian Orthodox Church
The task of reconstruction confronting the Russian Orthodox Church as
it emerges from almost a century of communist rule is daunting. Unlike
the other Christian churches of central and eastern Europe, whose
tribulations dated from the end of World War II, the Russian Church
suffered savage persecution from the earliest days of the Russian
Revolution under Stalin and his successors, and while harassment eased
from time to time during the Soviet period, it only ceased in recent
years. The Russian Church was therefore in chains during the most
formative years of the modern ecumenical movement, the years of the
World Council of Churches and Vatican II. Also, her earlier history
contrasted at several points with that of Western Christendom where the
Reformation of the sixteenth century and the influence of the
Enlightenment of the eighteenth deeply influenced religious thought. Now
that the former Communist states, Russia among them, are seeking a new
and closer relationship with the West, the churches of the East assume a
new importance for us, as the population of the European Union comes to
include more and more Orthodox. It was to address the issues posed by
this new relationship that the Church and Society Commission of the
Conference of European Churches, representative of the Orthodox Anglican
and Protestant Churches of Europe met last month in Moscow at the
invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The meeting was attended by
Dr Kenneth Milne as an observer of behalf of the Irish Council of
Churches, and there was much frank exchange of views on matters,
theological and political, on which significant divisions exist.
Today (Saturday) the Friends of St Canice's Cathedral,
Kilkenny, meet in the cathedral for their annual gathering to honour the
late Margaret Daisy Phelan. Tonight in St Patrick's Church, Greystones,
there will be a recital in aid of parish funds by the Pro Musica Choir
from Dalarna, Sweden. In New York the Chapel Choir of Trinity College,
Dublin, will sing the Vigil Mass in the Church of St Francis of Assisi.
Tomorrow (Sunday) they will sing at the Eucharist in the Church
of St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, and at Choral Evensong in the Cathedral of
St John the Divine. The Trinity Chaplain, Dr Alan McCormack will assist
at both services.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton,
will visit Schull and Crosshaven while in St Fin Barre's Cathedral the
Millennium Flame, which is travelling around the world, will be
received. In Dublin the speaker in the "Hopes for the New
Millennium" series of addresses at Choral Evensong will be the
Chief Rabbi of Ireland, the Very Revd Gavin Broder.
On Tuesday the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the Very Revd
Dr R.B. MacCarthy, will preach in Sheffield Cathedral at the
commissioning of Captain Tim Hyde as a church army officer to work in St
Patrick's. On Wednesday the Bishop of Tuam, Dr Richard Henderson, will
be in Iceland for a conference on religion and science which continues
until 8 July. In St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin on Friday there will be
a lunchtime concert by the joint church choir from Shreveport,
Louisiana, USA.
The Ross Tapestry Project has recently been launched in New Ross, Co.
Wexford. The tapestry, in fifteen panels, aims to be the Bayeux Tapestry
of Ireland. It will tell the story of the coming of the Normans to
Ireland in the twelfth century and the founding of New Ross as a port
town at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The research and
planning phases of the project have been going on for the last two years
and four local community groups of volunteer stitchers have been in
training since last November. It is envisaged that the tapestry will
hang in St Mary's Church, New Ross, where the rector is the Revd Paul
Mooney. St Mary's was founded by Isabela de Clare, daughter of Strongbow
and Aoife, and wife of William Mar
Church of Ireland Notes appear in the Irish
Times whose web site may be found at
http://www.ireland.com/ |
