Courtney McGrailBishops launch prayer day for Middle East peace
Ireland’s bishops have extended an invitation to all the faithful to pray with them, and Pope Francis, this October 31 for peace in the Middle East, and especially for the people of Syria. Co-organised by the Catholic Church, Caritas International and the Lutheran World Federation – as Pope Francis travels to Sweden – the day of prayer aims to encourage prayer gatherings in parishes, schools, community venues and in homes.
The prayer service for Irish parishes, schools and homes can be downloaded from www.catholicbishops.ie and the prayer can be downloaded from http://syria.caritas.org/
Those taking part in prayer gatherings on Monday 31 October are invited to share their particular prayer service using the hashtag #PeacePossible4Syria.
Bishop attends anti-trafficking gathering in Rome
Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns has represented the Catholic Bishops’ Conference at a major gathering in Rome on human trafficking and slavery. The bishop was in attendance at the Santa Marta group, an initiative of Pope Francis which brings together prelates and police chiefs from around the world, including from An Garda Siochana and the PSNI.
The latest meeting ran from October 26-27. Speaking ahead of his participation, Bishop Brennan said: “I wish to reiterate the words of Pope Francis who, when speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Santa Marta Group in April 2014, said, ‘Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity.’ Every family, village and town in Ireland has a role to play to stop this scourge.”