Diocesan News14 Apr 05

House of Bishops meets in the European Capital of Culture, 2005

The routine bi-monthly meeting of the House of Bishops, held this April from Monday 11 to Wednesday 13, was decidedly different!

To honour the fact of Cork being European Capital of Culture, 2005, the venue was transferred from Dublin to Cork and the two-day meeting was interspersed with social, cultural and learning opportunities that turned it into an unique event, and also a "home-coming" for those who have had ministerial or familial connections with the city or county.

To allow for an instantaneous and informal introduction to Cork personalities, the Bishop and Mrs Colton hosted a dinner in the Palace where the bishops met Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Seán Martin, the Mayor of Cork County, Cllr Paddy Sheehan, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mícheál Martin T.D., and other local leaders and representatives of church, civic and commercial life. This proved a stimulating and enjoyable start to the episcopal agenda!

On Tuesday April 12, the Lord Mayor of Cork received the bishops, and the wives who were able to travel with them, at City Hall. In welcoming them officially to Cork, the Lord Mayor spoke briefly about Cork as a city and explained the background to the paintings, portraits and other items of interest in his office and he presented each bishop with a gift to commemorate the occasion and also an illustrated book on Cork.

Next stop was Collins Barracks, containing the biggest military training ground in Europe, where the group was welcomed by Brigadier General Pat Nash. The Officers' Mess houses notable paintings by Seán Keating, Patrick Hennessy, Harry Kernoff and, of particular interest, two paintings -" Leadership" by Josef Keyes and " Rath Mór" by Angie Shanahan, commissioned to celebrate Cork 2005 and based on the theme of "Cork Military."

The bishops met other army personnel who provided refreshments, more information and answered questions and then Comdt Dan Harvey led them on an enthralling tour of the Collins Barracks Military Museum (a must for all those interested in history), assisted by Curator Paddy Cremin.

St Michael's Church, to the south of the main square where Andrea Boccelli will soon be in concert, was the next place of interest and here is a very fine display of Evie Hone's stained glass windows. One bishop also spotted a poem on display that was hastily taken down on his computer toy for possible use in a future sermon!

Speaking on behalf of all, Archbishop Eames wished those in the Barracks all God's safety in their chosen profession and said "may you be long spared to make people proud of Ireland."

The finalé to the day's tour was to visit St Anne's Church to sit for a moment in this quiet oasis whose tower is a symbol of Cork and then all made the steep and body-bending treck up to the stage where the bells can be rung (with Lady Eames proving to be a natural bell-ringer) and thence to the top of the tower to soak up the panoramic views of a rapidly expanding city.

Then it was back to the bus and 'business as usual' as the House of Bishops Meeting continued. The bishops received a significant presentation from three members of the National Suicide Research Foundation (of which the Bishop of Cork is a director) and also were introduced to some of the academic and practical aspects of Church Law as it relates to the Church of Ireland in two lectures given by the Bishop of Cork.

The bishops in the Palace garden, Cork