First Woman Irish Methodist Bishop

For the first time in history a female cleric has been elected as one of Ireland's four main church leaders.




Reverend Dr Heather Morris will be installed as president of the Methodist Church next Wednesday.



Anglicans in England are divided on the ordination of women bishops but there is a "covenant" between Anglicans and Methodists in Ireland, prompting some to suggest that Dr Morris has become the first woman bishop.



Dr Morris said: "It's not for me to express an opinion on the Anglican debate but one of the things I love about Methodism is the fact that being a woman does not matter.



"I have said before that my election wasn't an issue around gender.



"My experience has been one where, as a woman in ministry, I have been nurtured and encouraged to use the gifts that God has entrusted to me. I see this as just a natural progression."



There is no indication that Irish Methodists will break with tradition on other matters like gay marriage, abortion and assisted suicide and Dr Morris says there will be no radical change of policy during her presidency.



She said: "I am happy to stand with where the Methodist Church in Ireland is on those issues.



"For example, with regards to same-sex relationships, we believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that marriage is the place for sexual intimacy."



Dr Morris was born in Nigeria, where her parents were missionaries, but educated in Belfast and Dublin.



Her appointment follows a family tradition - her father, Rev Paul Kingston, is a former Methodist President in Ireland.



The 48-year-old mother of two sons - Peter, 20, and David, 17 - insists God "called" her and her husband Neil together.



"He gave up a brilliant job to support me when I entered ministry," she said.



Dr Morris, like her predecessors, is quick to point out the Methodist emphasis on the word "all".



She added: "Our ministers were involved in peace talks in the 70s, when people didn't speak across the sectarian divide, and they are still courageously building peace in the community."



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Pope Francis makes me proud

08 June 2013



Pope Francis has revealed that he never wanted to be pope and that he is living in the Vatican hotel for his "psychiatric" health.


Francis showed a personal and spontaneous side as he met thousands of children from Jesuit schools across Italy and Albania.



Tossing aside his prepared remarks, Francis surprised the youngsters by asking them if they would like to ask him some questions instead. "Yes!" they shouted to cheers and applause - and the concern of teachers who fretted that no-one had prepared anything.



Answering their questions one by one, Francis told them the decision to become a priest had been difficult and that he had suffered "moments of interior darkness" when "you feel dry, without interior joy". But he said he went ahead because he loved Christ.



One of the most touching moments came when Teresa, a bright-eyed redhead no more than six, asked Francis flat out if he had wanted to be pope. Francis joked that only someone who hated himself would ever want to be pope. But then he became serious: "I didn't want to be pope," he said.



Someone else asked him why he had renounced the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace in favour of his spare suite in the Vatican hotel, where he has been living ever since the March conclave that elected him the first Jesuit pope and first pontiff from the Americas.



It was not so much a question of luxury as personality, he said. "I need to live among people," he said. "If I was living alone, isolated, it wouldn't be good for me. A professor asked me the same question, 'Why don't you go and live there (in the Papal apartments)'? And I replied, 'Listen to me professor, it is for psychiatric reasons'," he said chuckling.



This week, the Vatican confirmed that Francis would not holiday at the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolofo, in the hills south of Rome, and would instead remain in the Santa Marta hotel with a reduced work schedule.



Francis' predecessors have all decamped for at least a few weeks each summer to the estate, where the lush gardens, lakeside perch and cool breezes provide a welcome respite to the oppressive summer heat of Rome. The estate, which by acreage is bigger than Vatican City, is entirely walled in, making it a perfect escape for a pope who wants isolation and solitude - but not one who wants to eat breakfast each morning with a group of fellow priests, as Francis does in the communal dining room of the Vatican hotel.



Once or twice a year, Pope Benedict XVI would take questions from young people, but the questions were always submitted in advance so he could prepare a response. The questions on Friday were clearly spontaneous. One little boy from Sicily asked Francis if he had ever visited. No, Francis said, but he recently saw a beautiful film about the island.

900 Gardai drafted to ensure success of G8 Summit

A MASSIVE security operation, codenamed Shield and involving 900 gardai, is being mounted on this side of the Border for the international G8 economic summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, later this month.




The garda deployment will include highly trained members of specialist units, and the overt side of the operation will get under way from tomorrow week.



But intelligence gathering on the movements of potential troublemakers and demonstrators from previous economic summits is already well advanced, with the gardai working closely with a range of police forces and security agencies from other

jurisdictions.



The officer in charge of the operation, Assistant Commissioner Kieran Kenny, said yesterday at a briefing in Monaghan that he was not really expecting trouble but was planning for all eventualities.



Gardai have contacted the Courts Service about arranging special court sittings to deal with suspects, while detention facilities to hold them have also been organised in the region.



A large network of land and water patrols has been planned and will include a series of permanent and rolling checkpoints in the Border counties.



Gardai will keep track of arrivals at all air and sea ports and cross check them with a dossier of known protesters who have attempted to disrupt previous economic summits.



Apart from the threat of trouble from international terrorists and demonstrators, gardai say they are also conscious that homegrown dissident republicans may attempt to stage an incident as a propaganda stunt.



Mr Kenny said he was satisfied he had sufficient resources to deal with any problems that arose, and said measures such as shutting down mobile phone service in a specific area would only be implemented if there was an indication that a major incident was being planned.



For security reasons, he declined to say how many international delegations attending the summit on June 17 and 18 would be accommodated in hotels located in Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan.



However, it is understood that the main participants will be based in Northern Ireland.



Mr Kenny confirmed that at the moment there were no plans for road closures or diversions south of the Border but advised people residing in or travelling through the area to expect delays on roads leading to the summit site at Lough Erne Resort.