I was going through the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer and I came across a prayer for the European Union. Now it is some thing I have never come across before and I thought I would share it, considering it is Sunday. O Lord our heavenly Father, we pray you to guide and direct the member states of the European Union. Draw us closer to one another, and help us to attain justice and freedom, and to...
Image via Wikipedia Well it has happened. The President has signed the Defamation Bill into law today which means in Ireland you can now be prosecuted for blasphemy. Yes that is right, in this Ireland of the 21st Century I can no longer complain about God, Jehovah, Allah, The Flying Spagetti Monster, or any other deity in case I get prosecuted for the crime of blasphemous libel. Now while I am a church going person (Church of Ireland), with...
I haven’t blogged about the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Reportreport as between the jigs and the reels and the coverage on other blogs, I didnt see the point. But after reading a story in the Irish Examiner that the religous orders are not going to re-negotiate the indemnity deal and seeing this video from Q&A last time I am annoyed. I am soo annoyed. I am not sure who to be more annoyed with though. The Government...
Image via Wikipedia Last night I attended Evensong in St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork for a special IDAHO service. It was a beatiful service with an excellent choir. The Dean The Very Revd Nigel Dunne made everyone welcome and during the service we were all invited up to place a stone at the foot of the cross. That to me was very touching. During the prayers a list of those killed because of their sexuality was read out...
Image by flem007_uk via Flickr Tomorrow is IDAHO and there will be an event in Cork to commemorate it. It is being organised by Changing Attitudes Ireland. A Choral Evensong will take place tomorrow evening (May 17th) at 7:00pm in St. Fin Barres Cathedral in Cork. The speaker will be Ms. Doleres Mannion. Other events will take place in Dublin and Belfast. In Dublin there will be a service in Chirst Church Cathedral at 3.30pm with Sen. David Norris...
Okay so the whole Blasphemous Libel thing has taken off and is a cluster on Irish Blogs and a lot of people are up in arms about it. Some posts are offensive to some people. As pointed out to me on twitter. As blasphemy is a crime according to the constitution, it has never been so in criminal law. But what is Blasphemy? According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (On Reference.com) blasphemy, in religion, words or actions that display...
Armstice Day
Image by Martin LaBar via Flickr I am not sure if many people i Ireland are aware of the promises made by people today attending Rembrenance Day and Armstice Day Services make a very poignant promise during the service. Maybe we should all make this promise. Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service Will you strive for all that matters for peace? We will Will you work seek to heal the wounds of war? We will...
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