Roman Catholic Archbishop

the Most Reverend Seán Brady, Roman Catholic Archbishop of ArmaghThe President of the General Synod, the Most Reverend Robin Eames, at this year's General Synod meeting in the primatial see of Armagh, extended a special welcome to the leaders of the other three main churches in Ireland and also to the representatives of the Anglican churches in Britain.

Responding to his welcome the Most Reverend Seán Brady, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, spoke of the ongoing challenge for the Christian churches to be "travellers together on the path of God's love".Noting the common challenges and issues confronting the churches at the dawn of the third millennium, Archbishop Brady gave thanks for the amount of travelling together that was already happening.He welcomed the "genuine outreach" of the Church of Ireland in pursuit of Christian unity and spoke in particular of the valuable dialogue in which the clergy of Armagh had been involved as part of the recent Partners in Transformation initiative.

The Rev D Ivan McKay, recently elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, told the Synod that his own theme for the year was "proclaiming the gospel of God" and spoke of his wish that all of the Christian churches should give priority to making the glory of God known in the proclamation of the gospel.

The Rev W James Rea, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, brought special greetings from the Methodists and told Synod members of his delight at the Covenant between the two churches, which was signed at the General Synod and Methodist Conference in 2003.

I have also been asked by the leaders of the four largest denominations in Ireland (Roman Catholic Archbishop, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Church of Ireland Archbishop, and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland) to convene a planning group with representatives of all four churches for a major conference they are sponsoring together at the end of April on "The Churches Contribution to Improving Relations in Northern Ireland."It will be an opportunity for a significant group of church leaders to consider the churches' own role in responding to this task and what it is the churches have to say to wider civic society and the government in terms of a vision for the future and strategic ways of moving toward it. We would welcome your prayers for our work over the limited time available for planning and for the event itself.Underlying all three of these developments is a recognition by at least some leaders in the churches that peace building has to be moved up the agenda if we are to live out the gospel message in this setting and at this time.Your prayers for all of us as we seek to do so are greatly appreciated.

I have also been asked by the leaders of the four largest denominations in Ireland (Roman Catholic Archbishop, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Church of Ireland Archbishop, and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland) to convene a planning group with representatives of all four churches for a major conference they are sponsoring together at the end of April on "The Churches Contribution to Improving Relations in Northern Ireland."

I have also been asked by the leaders of the four largest denominations in Ireland (Roman Catholic Archbishop, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Church of Ireland Archbishop, and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland) to convene a planning group with representatives of all four churches for a major conference they are sponsoring together at the end of April on "The Churches Contribution to Improving Relations in Northern Ireland."It will be an opportunity for a significant group of church leaders to consider the churches' own role in responding to this task and what it is the churches have to say to wider civic society and the government in terms of a visions for the future and strategic ways of moving toward it.We would welcome your prayers for our work over the limited time available for planning and for the event itself.

Underlying all three of these developments is a recognition by at least some leaders in the churches that peacebuilding has to be moved up the agenda if we are to live out the gospel message in this setting and at this time.Your prayers for all of us as we seek to do so are greatly appreciated.

I was asked to coordinate the planning for and facilitation of a consultation set up by the four Church Leaders (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Methodist Church in Ireland President and Presbyterian Church in Ireland Moderator.) It involved just over one hundred participants meeting for two days at Loughry College.