For the first time in its history the European Cathedrals' Conference (Northern European Area) is to meet in Dublin from today until Thursday.
People associated with cathedrals in Norway, Sweden, Holland, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland will take part in the conference, which is hosted by Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.
The conference theme is "The Cathedral as a Place of Unity". Speakers will include Dr Mazaher Ali Bari of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland; Father John Delany, administrator, St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin; Bishop Richard Clarke of Meath and Kildare; Canon Kenneth Kearon, Irish School of Ecumenics; Dean Robert MacCarthy, St Patrick's Cathedral; and Dean John Paterson, Christ Church Cathedral.
Among the attendance will be leading Roman Catholic churchmen, such as Mgr Tom Toner, Administrator, St Peter's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Belfast; Mgr Peter Cookson, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral; and Mgr Desmond Sexton, St Marie's Cathedral, Sheffield.
Mgr Toner and Canon Charles Kenny, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, will lead a session on practical ecumenism in Belfast.
