Bishops
The Autumn General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference came to an end yesterday evening in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. As reported in a statement, among the topics discussed were the launch of the 9th World Meeting of Families (Dublin 22-26 August 2018) under the theme of “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World” chosen by Pope Francis last May. On Saturday, 22 October, the two co-chairs of the Council for Marriage and the Family, Mgr. Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will formally launch preparations for the World Meeting at a conference in Dublin which will be attended by representatives of dioceses and parishes from all over the world. Amoris Laetitia and Laudato si’ will inform the discussion. During their Autumn meeting, the Irish Bishops also discussed the protection of human life, taking inspiration from an excerpt of the Prayer for Our Earth contained in Laudato Si’ and from the current public discussion regarding article 40.3.3 of the Constitution of Ireland. Other topics addressed were the work of the Bishops’ Conference aid agency Trócaire supporting the victims of violence in Aleppo; vocations; the 2017 budget; and the first Day of Prayer for the survivors and victims of sexual abuse which will take place on 3 March 2017, the first Friday of Lent. Mr John Morgan and Ms Teresa Devlin, the chair and CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, briefed the bishops about their work. On 13 October, a conference on the protection of children will take place in Tullamore; it will open with a Mass celebrated by Mgr. Eamon Martin.
