Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference
The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference (Gaelic, Comhdháil Easpag Caitliceach Éireann) is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland. Their meetings generally take place a number of times a year in Maynooth, County Kildare, the location of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland's national Catholic seminary. While each bishop is autonomous in his own diocese, meetings of the conference give bishops a chance to discuss issues of mutual concern, or issues of national policy.
Contents
Background
In the Catholic Church, the Bishops' Conference is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities, but were first established as formal bodies by the Second Vatican Council (Christus Dominus, 38), and implemented by Pope Paul VI's 1966 motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae. The operation, authority, and responsibilities of episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law (see especially canons 447–459). The nature of episcopal conferences, and their magisterial authority in particular, was subsequently clarified by Pope John Paul II's 1998 motu proprio Apostolos suos.
Certain tasks and authority are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by canon law, the decisions of an episcopal conference are subject to ratification from the Holy See. Individual bishops do not relinquish their authority to the conference, and remain responsible for the governance of their respective diocese.
Composition
The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference is made up of the 26 Irish diocesan bishops (ordinaries) and a number of auxiliary bishops. The conference transcends the political boundaries on the island of Ireland and comprises both jurisdictions.
Structure
Beneath the Bishops' Conference are the regional or provincial meetings of bishops
Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference – which might also include neighboring countries.
The Archbishop of Armagh, as Primate of All Ireland, is the chairman of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference. The current Archbishop is Cardinal Seán Brady.
Much of the work of the Conference is done in committees which cover issues such as laity, liturgy, family, social justice, with each committee having a chairman who is a bishop, though not always an ordinary.
Presidency
By convention, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland as the most-senior churchman in Ireland is president of the Irish Bishops' Conference and thus principal spokesman. This tradition has prevailed even when the Archbishop of Dublin is a cardinal and the Archbishop of Armagh is not a member of the College of Cardinals.
List of presidents
- John D'Alton (1958-1963)
- William Conway (1963-1977)
- Tomás Ó Fiaich (1977-1990)
- Cahal Daly (1990-1996)
- Seán Brady (1996–2014)
- Eamon Martin (2014-present)
Extraordinary General Meetings
- April 2002 - Ferns Report and resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey
- October 2005 - publication of the National Board for Safeguarding Children report on child protection in the Cloyne diocese
- January 2009 - publication of the National Board for Safeguarding Children report on child protection in the Cloyne diocese.
- Friday 22 January 2010 - anticipation of the forthcoming pastoral letter from Pope Benedict to the faithful of Ireland after the Ryan and Murphy reports.
See also
External links
- Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference official website
- Irish Episcopal Conference webpage. GCatholic.org website
