Tape Date: 27th May 1998

This week we hear about community, Rev. Ken Newell from Belfast talks about misconceptions in both communities in Northern Ireland, and Helen Connolly talks about the San Egidio Community which has tens of thousands of members worldwide. Fr. Michael Rodgers talks to us about St. Kevin, whose 1500th anniversary occurs this year and Fr. Martin Hogan reflects on St. Luke's account of Pentecost.

Side 1

1. Crossways: News in the Church and the World. In our main report we hear from Ken Wiwa about a new campaign called "Make Your Mark", organised by the Body Shop and Amnesty International. The news was read by Elaine Comerford and Martin Browne.

Time: 5.08

2. Pentecost: Fr. Martin Hogan, Scripture Professor at Clonliffe College, Dublin, gives a reflection on the passage in Acts 2 about the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost.

In: (Hogan) "It was originally a harvest..............and his world." Out: (Hogan)

Time: 5.15

3. United Prayer Initiative: We are living through a period in Ireland's history which is full of opportunity, yet fraught with many dangers. Following the example of Christians in South Africa, a group of Irish Christians have launched the United Prayer Initiative. They invite people to commit to one hour of prayer per week for our politicians and leaders, between now and December 1999. The three aims of the project are spiritual revival in Ireland, the eradication of sectarian attitudes and the implementation of a fair and just political settlement in Northern Ireland. Martin Browne spoke to one of the organisers, Paddy Monaghan. (The United Prayer Initiative can be contacted at PO Box 753, Belfast BT5 6AP, or 7 Northumberland Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin.)

In: (Browne) "United Prayer...........put it into effect." Out: (Monaghan)

Time: 5.40

4. Ken Wiwa: Most Irish people have heard of Ken Saro Wiwa, a poet and human rights defender executed almost three years ago in Nigeria. After his death, his son, also called Ken, was thrown into the limelight and now spends a lot of his time working on human rights issues. Ken was in Ireland recently and spoke to Elaine Comerford about how his father's death affected both him and his family, and about what the future holds for him.

In: (Wiwa) "It's almost 3 years.....................to society." Out: (Wiwa)

Time: 5.24

5. The San Egidio Community: New religious groups are springing up all the time. Within the Roman Catholic Church a particularly lively group for young lay people is the San Egidio Community. It started in Rome 30 years ago and has tens of thousands of members all over the world. It arrived in Dublin about five years ago. Alan McGuckian, SJ, spoke to one of the Irish members, Helen Connolly, and asked her about it.

In: (Connolly) "The San Egidio............number is 453 9255." Out: (Connolly)

Time: 4.51

Side 2

1. Breaking The Silence - Update: In May 1997 the Irish Catholic Bishops launched Breaking the Silence, an initiative to prevent drug misuse and to respond to the problems that are created by drug misuse. A network of resource people from the 26 Diocese in Ireland has been established to provide information on the services available in local areas. But how has the initiative been received around the country, has it been a success? Chris Murphy is the director of the Drugs Awareness Programme and he spoke to Elaine Comerford.

In: (Murphy) "We had a Drug...........moving towards a strategy." Out: (Murphy)

Time: 4.34

2. Scattered Flock: At its recent General Synod in Dublin, the Church of Ireland agreed in principle to the reduction of the number of dioceses in the Church from twelve to ten. This is largely due to falling numbers, particularly in the Republic. The newest and youngest Bishop in the Church of Ireland is the Right Revd Richard Henderson, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. Though territorially one of the largest dioceses in the Church, it has the smallest number of Church of Ireland members. Martin Browne spoke to Bishop Henderson about the role of a Bishop in such a scattered community.

In: (Browne) "How big is the diocese............church can grow" Out: (Henderson)

Time: 4.27

3. St Kevin: This is the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St Kevin. Marie Stuart, RSM, went to Glendalough and talked to Fr. Michael Rodgers about the kind of person St Kevin was and why he went to live in Glendalough. Michael is a Clareman and a Kiltegan priest. He worked in Kenya for twenty years and now lives and works in Glendalough. Michael is available to meet people, guide them through the valley and act as retreat director or soul friend to those who come to spend time in prayer and reflection. (We are enclosing a brochure on Glendalough, what Michael offers and his address, telephone and fax numbers. Also enclosed is a list of the events organised to mark the 1500th anniversary of the birth of Kevin. On Thursday June 4th at 8.00pm Archbishop Caird will give a talk on the influence of the Irish church overseas in the early centuries, George McClafferty will talk on the influence of Glendalough at the present time and Michael Rodgers will talk on the influence of St Kevin)

In: (Stuart) "Michael what...................most essential part of that." Out:(Rodgers)

Time: 5.57

4. Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: Ken Newell grew up in Belfast and is now a Presbyterian Minister working there. He made his first Catholic friends in Queen’s University when he was seventeen. Later when he visited Holland and went to Mass in a Catholic Church he realised that he had many misconceptions about the Catholic religion. He worked in Timor, Indonesia from 1971 to 1975 and became friends with a priest from Dundalk. After his return to Belfast he got involved in cross community peace talks. He was in Dublin recently and talked to Marie Stuart, RSM, about reconciliation, friendship and his experience of the peace talks. Marie asked him first about the misconceptions each community in Northern Ireland has about the other.

In: (Newell) "As you know ............ and the Ulster Democratic Party." Out: (Newell)