Press Releases23 Feb 17

Condolences Expressed at the Passing of Past Participants of the Irish Inter–Church Meeting

At the meeting of the Irish Inter–Church Committee on Thursday 23rd February 2017, the Co–Chairs – Most Rev Dr Brendan Leahy, Catholic Bishop of Limerick, and Rt Rev John McDowell, President of the Irish Council of Churches – expressed their condolences at the passing of two very faithful past participants in the Inter–Church Church Meeting: retired Church of Ireland Bishop the Right Revd Samuel Poyntz and Cardinal Desmond Connell of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Bishop Samuel Poyntz was Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross (1978–1987) and after that, Bishop of Connor (1987–1995). He was Vice–Chair of the British Council of Churches from 1986–1990 and in that capacity led a British Council of Churches delegation to Israel/Palestine in 1989. He was President of the Irish Council of Churches 1986–1987 and Co–Chair of the Irish Inter–Church Meeting. In this role he led several important delegations to International meetings, including the first European Ecumenical Conference in Lausanne, ecumenical visits to Austria and France and an Irish Inter–Church delegation to Russia in 1987.

Cardinal Desmond Connell was Vice–President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference between 1988 and 2004 and a member of its Commission on Ecumenism. He was a very active member of the Irish Inter–Church Committee from its earliest years and enjoyed warm personal relations with representatives of other churches. He had a deep personal commitment to promoting ecumenism and had a formative role in the evolution of the national ecumenical structures.

Bishop Poyntz and Cardinal Connell both made an important contribution to the future of ecumenism in Ireland by being pro–active in encouraging younger clergy to take up the work and study of ecumenism. Their keen understanding of the wider global context for ecumenism shaped and informed this engagement, while they brought an Irish perspective to international ecumenical engagements. Participants at the meeting noted that several current members owe a debt to the leadership and encouragement of these two influential past members.