The Bishops' Appeal, which is the Church of Ireland's principal vehicle for assisting the developing world, made grants totalling £113,000 this month.
In response to war and disaster, funds received from parishes specifically for those purposes have been channelled to previously supported projects through Christian Aid. Work with Kosovan refugees has been supported, as has been the work of the Churches' Steering Committee in Turkey which is dealing with the consequences of earthquake. Relief from floods in Venezuela and Mozambique, and a re-seeding programme in the dioceses of Mundroa and Cuibet in Sudan, have also been assisted.
The Bishops' Appeal Committee has also responded to the worsening famine in the Horn of Africa with a grant of £20,000 to Christian Aid to support the work of the Ogaden Welfare Society's feeding programme.
In addition to helping the immediate needs of the victims of war and disaster, the Bishops' Appeal made grants to six projects. A Christian Aid scheme to rebuild a school in Armenia and a CMSI development training project in Rwanda were assisted. Two grants were made to SPGK for educational projects in Sierra Leone and India, while a savings and credit scheme in Tanzania and a wheelchair project in Honduras were also supported.
This evening at 9 p.m. in Christ Church Cathedral, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, assisted by the clergy of the cathedral and the cathedral parishes, will lead the Easter Vigil. After the vigil of readings in the darkened nave, the paschal candle will be lit in the ruins of the medieval chapter house and, following the return procession into the cathedral, the Easter Eucharist will be sung.
Tomorrow, Easter Day, will be celebrated in churches and cathedrals throughout the country with the bishops, by tradition, preaching in their diocesan cathedrals. RTE will broadcast the Eucharist of the Resurrection from St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick, while in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the preacher at the Festival Eucharist will be the Rev Dr Herbert O'Driscoll from Washington Cathedral. In Christ Church, Clifden, the service will be sung by the Vox Media Choir, from Stockholm, and this will be followed by a short recital.
On Wednesday the Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will speak to the Old Carlow Society on "The Clergy and the Parishes of the Church of Ireland in Co Carlow since the Reformation", and on Thursday, at Choral Evensong in the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin, the Chaplain, Dr Alan McCormack, will conduct an act of thanksgiving for the gift of sport.
The President, Mrs McAleese, will visit St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, on Friday and will attend the final of the St Fin Barre's Beyond 2000 debates from transition-year students. This week the Choir of St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, will be singing the services in Gloucester Cathedral. The choir has previously sung in the cathedrals of Ripon, Hereford, Exeter, Lichfield, Worcester and St David's, as well as in Paris and Chartres.
Details of the programme for Ceiliuradh, the international festival of Christian liturgy past, present and future, which is to be held in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, are now available from the Braemor Institute, Braemor Park, Dublin 14 (tel (01) 4923695; fax (01) 492-3082; email: tgordon@tcd.ie Those intending to enroll might find of interest the current issue of the Anglican Theological Review which has a series of contributions under the general heading "Unbounds Anglican Worship Beyond the Prayer Book`".