Father Éamonn Conway appointed as expert advisor to forthcoming Synod of Bishops

25 Sep 2012

Father Éamonn Conway appointed as expert advisor to forthcoming Synod of Bishops

The Holy See’s Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops has announced the appointment of Irish theologian Reverend Professor Éamonn Conway as an expert advisor to the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.  The theme of the Synod is ‘The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith’.

Father Conway is a priest of the Archdiocese of Tuam and Head of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.

Welcoming the appointment Archbishop Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam, said “on behalf of the faithful of the Archdiocese I warmly congratulate Professor Éamonn on his appointment by Pope Benedict.  Éamonn is a very able theologian and, coupled with his great command of languages, he is ideally equipped to be of great assistance at this world-wide gathering.  I wish him well in his important work and the valuable contribution that he will make as a theological expert at the forthcoming Synod.”

President of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Professor Michael Hayes, also welcomed the appointment “I am delighted that a member of staff from Mary Immaculate College has been invited to Rome to participate in the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. This appointment is both an honour for Professor Conway and for the College.”

Responding to the announcement of his appointment Father Conway said: “I am deeply honoured to have been invited by the Holy See to participate in this very important event in the life of the universal Church.”

Reverend Professor Éamonn Conway is currently President of the International Network for Societies of Catholic Theology and is past President of the European Society for Catholic Theology.  He is widely published, in Ireland and abroad, especially on Catholic education and secularisation.  Father Conway is the only Irish theologian listed among the 45 Synod Adiutores Secretarii Specialis (or Experts) announced on 22 September last by the Holy See.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

•    A high resolution picture of Father Conway is available from the Catholic Communications Office.

•    Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop Kieran O’Reilly, Bishop of Killaloe, will represent the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference at the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.  The Synod takes place from 7 to 28 October 2012.  Full details are available on www.vatican.va

•    The Synod of Bishops was established by Pope Paul VI by Motu proprio “Apostolica sollicitudo” of 15 September 1965.  Pope Paul VI gave the definition of the Synod of Bishops at the Sunday Angelus of 22 September 1974: “It is an ecclesiastic institution, which, on interrogating the signs of the times and as well as trying to provide a deeper interpretation of divine designs and the constitution of the Catholic Church, we set up after Vatican Council II in order to foster the unity and cooperation of bishops around the world with the Holy See. It does this by means of a common study concerning the conditions of the Church and a joint solution on matters concerning Her mission. It is neither a Council nor a Parliament but a special type of Synod”.

For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444