The Church of Ireland Historiographer, Dr Kenneth Milne, has recently returned from a conference in Varese, north of Milan, on the history of Irish Christianity under the auspices of the Ambrosian Foundation of Paul VI.
Twenty-two papers were read by an international group of scholars, tracing the story of the Irish church from its Patrician origins to the present day.
Naturally, much attention was given to the experience of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland from the time of the Reformation, the interaction of religion and politics, and the Diaspora of Irish Catholics as students to the Irish colleges on the European continent and emigrants to Britain and America in later years.
However, other religious traditions were not neglected. Dr Raymond Gillespie, of NUI Maynooth and a contributor to the forthcoming history of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, spoke on lay Protestant religion, 15591800. Dr Milne's subject was the Church of Ireland since Partition.
While much of the programme related to the study of the past in the light of modern scholarship, contemporary issues facing the Irish churches were discussed and the audiences were given some impression of the context in which religion now finds itself in Ireland. The proceedings are to be published in Italian and English.
Tomorrow, BBC Radio Ulster will broadcast morning service from St Aidan's Church, Grange, Armagh, conducted by the Rev Ian Ellis, and at 6 p.m. Dublin South Community Radio (FM 104.9) will include an interview with the Archdeacon of Dublin, the Ven Gordon Linney, in its Vision programme.
The Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Paul Colton, will preside at the dedication festival in the Church of St Brendan the Navigator, Bantry, while a former Bishop of Cork, Dr Samuel Poyntz, will preach at the harvest festival in Sandford Parish Church, Dublin.
The Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames, will be the preacher at the harvest thanksgiving in St Polycarp's Church, Belfast, and on Tuesday, in Strasbourg, he will preach at a service to mark the opening of the new session of the European Parliament.
On Tuesday, a new series of lunchtime lectures begins in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on the theme, the Future of the Church. The first speaker will be the chaplain of Trinity College, Dr Alan McCormack, whose talk will be the Cathedral as Aesthetic Focus - will Beauty Save the Church? In Linkoping Cathedral, Sweden, a European Cathedrals Conference begins at which Christ Church will be represented by the Dean, the Very Rev John Paterson, the administrator, Mr Christopher Sheil, and a member of the cathedral board, Mr Stuart Kinsella.
The Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will chair a lecture on Thursday in Milltown Institute, where Canon Oliver O'Donovan, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology in the University of Oxford, will speak on the politics of the abortion debate.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, on Friday, the Bishop of Limerick, the Right Rev Edward Darling, will lead a service of introduction to the new hymnal, for clergy, choirs and people from the dioceses of Cashel and Ossory. The new hymnal will be published next September.
The RCB Library's exhibition, the Dublin City Churches Revisited, in the Dublin Civic Museum, has been extended until the October 31st.
The museum is at 58 South William Street (beside the Powers court Town House) and is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is free.