Clogher Diocese to Welcome Bishop of Madrid

The Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Rev Dr Michael Jackson, will welcome the Bishop of Madrid and Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Europe next month as part of ongoing celebrations marking 1500 years since the death of the diocese's patron saint, St Macartan.

The Rt Rev Dr Carlos Lopez Lozano, who will visit from March 22 to 25, is the latest in a series of renowned speakers of both local and international standing who have contributed to the Macartan 1500 Project, which celebrates 1500 years since the death of St Macartan with various lectures and events.

In welcoming this announcement, Bishop Jackson said, "Bishop Carlos will be very welcome in Clogher Diocese. The Diocese of Spain has an historical link with Clogher in that one of the three Bishops from Ireland who consecrated the first Bishop of Spain was Bishop Stack of Clogher. Bishop Carlos is a modern bishop of a modern diocese and one which is very much part of contemporary Europe."

During his visit, Bishop Carlos will meet pupils from schools across the community and contribute to Clogher's lecture series, 'Christianity and Conflict'.

"We will gain much from his time with us, and it is a fitting continuation of our Macartan 1500 Project in which we celebrate fifteen hundred years of Christian witness in the Diocese of Clogher," said Bishop Jackson.

This visit will follow on the heals of another Macartan 1500 event featuring Dr Duncan Morrow, Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council, who will speak at the Clinton Centre, Enniskillen, on Thursday 22 February on the theme of 'The Challenges of Diversity and Tolerance in a Changing Northern Ireland'. Bishop Michael Jackson will introduce the evening.

Bishop Jackson will also be the guest speaker at an ecumenical day on Lough Derg on Wednesday 21 February. The ecumenical day will give anyone interested the opportunity to have a walk around and see first hand one of Ireland's most ancient places of pilgrimage.

The Macartan 1500 Project is funded for one year until September 2007. Activities coming up in addition to public lectures include time capsules, residentials, youth initiatives and musical events.

Events which have already taken place last autumn include the 'Clergy of Clogher' publication launch, and organ recitals by Westminster Abbey's Ian Keatley.

The project, coordinated by Clogher Diocese, is part financed by the European Union through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Northern Ireland Rural Development Council (RDC).