PRESS RELEASE
11th January 2008
Cardinal Brady leads Irish delegation to the Holy Land
Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, is today leading an Irish delegation to Israel as part of an international Catholic group called ‘the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land’.
This group, which includes European and North American bishops, is visiting the Holy Land from today to Tuesday next, 15 January. This established group was set up in Jerusalem at the request of the Holy See in October 1998.
While in the Holy Land, over the next six days, the group intends to meet with the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land and Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Apostolic Delegate; Mr Tom Philips CMG, British Ambassador to Israel; Mr Richard Makepeace, British Consul General in Jerusalem; and, staff and students at Bethlehem University.
The group also intends to make pastoral visits to parishes, for example, Bethlehem, Nablus, Rafidia, Jenin, and Zababdeh, as well as to hold meetings with politicians.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops initially co-ordinated a group of bishops which began to visit Catholic communities in the Holy Land each year. For the last year three years the ‘Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land’ group has been organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, under the leadership of Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool. Local arrangements are made jointly with the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, on behalf of the Association of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land.
- Names (in alphabetical order) of participants and organisations participating in the ‘Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land’:
H.E. Cardinal Seán BRADY
Archbishop of Armagh, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Rev Timothy BARTLETT, office of the President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Bishop Mgr Pierre BÜRCHER
Bishop-Elect of Reykjavik, Iceland
Dr Stephen COLECCHI
Director, International Justice and Peace, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Mr Alexander DES FORGES
Director, Catholic Communications Network, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales
Bishop Mgr Michel DUBOST
Bishop of Evry, French Bishops’ Conference
Bishop Raymond FIELD
Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Chairman of Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Mgr Peter FLEETWOOD
Archdiocese of Liverpool, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales
Rev Daniel A. FLENS
Secretary to Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
H.E. Cardinal Francis GEORGE OMI
Archbishop of Chicago, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Mr Hermann-Josef GROSSIMLINGHAUS
Executive Director, German Bishops’ Conference Commission for International Church Affairs, Vice-President of German Association of the Holy Land
Abbé Felix GMÜR
Secretary General, Swiss Bishops’ Conference
Ms Philippa HITCHEN
Vatican Radio
Archbishop Patrick KELLY
Archbishop of Liverpool, Vice-President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales
Bishop William KENNEY CP
Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales
Mr Justin KILCULLEN
Director of Trócaire, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Fr Paul LANSU
Pax Christi International
Mr Tim LIVESEY – Rome only
Secretary for Public Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Mgr David MALLOY
General Secretary, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Mr William O’KEEFE
Senior Director for Advocacy, United States Catholic Relief Services
Mgr Mario PAQUETTE PH
General Secretary, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Mr Ulrich PÖNER – Rome only
Director, German Bishops’ Conference Department for International Church Affairs and Migration
Mr Rateb RABIE KHS
President, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation
Dr David RYALL
Assistant General Secretary, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
International General Secretary, Holy Land Co-ordination
Dr Rudolf SOLZBACHER
Director, Department for International Church Affairs and Mission, Archdiocese of Cologne, Board Member of German Association of the Holy Land
Bishop Joan Enric VIVES i SICILIA
Bishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra, Spanish Bishops’ Conference
Archbishop V. James WEISGERBER
Archbishop of Winnipeg, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Dr Michael WHELAN KGCHS
Lieutenant, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of England and Wales
Non-Overseas Participants:
Fr Markus BUGNYAR
Director of the Austrian Hospice, Jerusalem
Mrs Claudette HABESCH – to be confirmed
Vice-President, Caritas Internationalis, Jerusalem
Further information:
Martin Long Director of Communications (086 172 7678)
Kathy Tynan Communications Officer (086 817 5674)
