On Wednesday the President, Mrs McAleese, will open a national millennium conference on Christianity and culture, entitled "Fis", which will continue in the Hotel Westport, Co Mayo, until Sunday, April 16th. The conference has been organised by the Church of Ireland diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry and the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Tuam.
The speakers at the conference come from diverse backgrounds. All will be seeking to see the face of God in our society and asking how Christianity might better respond.
Among the speakers will be the Rev Dr John Polkinghorne, a priest of the Church of England and former president of Queen's College Cambridge, who has written widely on science and religion; the Rev Marcus Losack, a former rector of Newcastle, Co Wicklow, who has become well known for his involvement in Celtic spirituality; and the Rev Dr David Hewlett, formerly lecturer in systematic theology in the Church of Ireland Theological College.
Details of the conference may be had from the Rev Gary Hastings, The Rectory, Newport Road, Westport, Co Mayo (tel: 098-25127; e-mail: gary@anu.ie).
Today, at 10.30 a.m. in the Callan Hall, Maynooth College, the Kildare Archaeological Society will host a millennium seminar on "St Brigid and Kildare Cathedral". Among the speakers will be the Dean of Kildare, the Very Rev Robert Townley; the Rector of Dunboyne, the Rev Adrian Wilkinson; and Dr Raymond Gillespie, one of the contributors to a history of Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, which is to be published by Four Courts Press in June.
Tomorrow, Passion Sunday, RTE will broadcast the Sung Eucharist from St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, where the preacher will be the Dean of Cork, Dr Michael Jackson. The preacher at the Sung Eucharist in the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin will be the Rev Dr Graham Tomlin, vice-principal of Wycliffe Hall Oxford.
While in St John's Church, Sandymount, the final address in the Lenten series on "Servants of the Church" will be given by Mrs Valerie Jones, Dublin Diocesan Communications Officer, in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. At Evensong the Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Paul Colton, will give the Lenten address on the Apostles' Creed.
On Monday, the clergy of the diocese of Clogher begin their annual residential conference in Dunfanaghy, where the guest speaker will be the former bishop of Bradford, the Right Rev Roy Williamson. In the Church of Ireland Theological College, Dr Graham Tomlin will speak to the ordinands on "Theological Formation for Orders".
In St Carthage's Cathedral, Lismore, on Tuesday evening, the choir of Midleton College will give a performance of Stainer's Crucifixion. This will be repeated in Midleton College on Wednesday evening after which a CD of the choir will be launched.
As part of the jubilee celebrations, a cross from the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin is being taken through the diocese during Lent and will rest in a different church each day. St John's Church, Sandymount, has been invited to have the cross on Thursday, when there will be a short prayer service of reconciliation at 8 p.m.
The final talk in the Lenten series on "Faith Matters for a New Millennium" in Rathfarnham Parish Church will be held on Thursday evening. The speakers on "A Down to Earth Faith" will be the Rev Tom Gordon, Director of Extra-Mural Studies in the Theological College, and Sister Una Agnew from Milltown Park.