The Church of Ireland
Diocesan Press Release

The Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough, Dr Walton Empey, will ordain four deacons Rwandan Francois Murenzi, Sonia Gyles, Olivia Williams and Sandra Pragnell in a service in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, 17 June 2001, at 3.30 pm.

Francois Murenzi is the first African to be ordained in Dublin & Glendalough Dioceses. Educated in Rwanda and Congo he is a former civil servant. He did courses in Biblical Studies in England before coming to work in Ireland with the Church Missionary Society in 1996. He will be curate of Bray. Aged 38 Francois and his wife Susan-Margaret have 4 small children.

From Clara Co Offaly, the youngest of the four is Sonia Gyles in her mid-twenties. She worked in an insurance brokers before training for the ministry. She will be curate of Taney Parish, Dundrum.

Olivia Williams grew up in Ranelagh in Dublin. She has wide experience of the business and political world having been a bi-lingual secretary with IBM in Paris and Johannesburg for four years and PA to MEP Richie Ryan for six years. A gifted artist she will be curate of Greystones.

Sandra Pragnell is from Hampshire. She worked as a civil servant in London before being transferred to Belfast. She says, “I found the churches in Northern Ireland very different to what I was used to in England. I had been against the ordination of women priests for a long time but with the encouragement of the Rector of St George’s Belfast my sense of vocation began to grow.” Sandra will be curate of Castleknock.