Church of England General Synod seeks to preserve full authority of future women bishops Last week, the Church of England General synod, meeting at Church House, Westminster, took a further important step towards legislating for women bishops. At what was the first meeting of a new triennium, synod members rejected an attempt to weaken the [...]
COI Gazette – 10th February
Dublin City Interfaith Forum launched The Irish Council Of churches (ICC) and the Office for integration of Dublin City council last week launched the Dublin city interfaith Forum at the civic offices in Wood Quay. The Forum comprises members of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities. Acknowledging that dublin’s religious landscape had profoundly [...]
COI Gazette – 3rd Feb 2012
Archbishop of Armagh responds to Lord Carey on welfare reform debate The Archbishop of Armagh, The Most Revd Alan Harper, has responded to an outspoken article by the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, who took issue with those in the House of Lords, in particular the Lords spiritual, who opposed the westminster government’s welfare [...]
COI Gazette – 27th January 2012
Front Page Canon Kearon preaches on 350 years of the Book of Common Prayer The Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, preaching earlier this month in Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral on the topic of the 350th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer, described it as an “iconic” Prayer Book that had shaped [...]
COI Gazette – 19th January 2012
Front Page Anglican development, relief and advocacy agency seeks views in online initiative The Anglican Alliance – the official Anglican Communion body focusing on development, relief and advocacy issues – has launched an online consultation on the priorities for Anglicans’ mission to overcome poverty and injustice worldwide https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/anglicanalliance . The results of the survey will [...]
COI Gazette – Supplement ‘Same Sex Relationships’
Review Introduction This Gazette Review supplement is intended as a contribution to the wider discussion that is taking place in the Church on the subject of same-sex relationships. It is a difficult debate, as the extensive correspondence over recent months in the Gazette has shown, but it is one that simply must take place. [...]
COI Gazette – 13th Jan 2012
Front Page Archbishop of Cape Town challenges Robert Mugabe over Church persecution The Primate of Southern Africa last week called for the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to end police persecution of the Church there after more than 80 clergy were ordered to leave a retreat centre. The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of [...]
COI Gazette – 6th January 2012
Front Page Cookstown clergy on fact-finding visit to Maiden City cross Peace Bridge Both past and present members of the Cookstown and District Clergy Forum recently accepted an invitation to visit Londonderry as part of their ongoing outreach programme. The group visited a cross- section of churches in the city, as well as crossing the [...]
COI Gazette – 23rd December 2011
Archbishop of Armagh in ecumenical delegation to Government over NI welfare reforms Last week, the Archbishop of Armagh joined three other Irish Church leaders in lobbying the UK Government over the impact of proposed welfare reforms on the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland. Archbishop Harper, along with the Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh, the Methodist President [...]
COI Gazette – 16th December
Researcher addresses ecumenical meeting on ‘Occupy’ movement’s priorities The Churches in Ireland Connecting in Christ grouping’s Church in Society Forum recently heard political activist, doctoral researcher and resource developer for groups such as Corrymeela and the Irish Peace Centres, Jon Hatch, present his analysis of the Occupy movement. Explaining his approach subsequently in a written [...]