The auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Anthony Farquhar, has been appointed to the Anglican-Roman Catholic Working Group. It will review relationships between both denominations worldwide.
He is the only Irishman in the group, made up of international church leaders who will consolidate the results of more than 30 years of ecumenical contact between Anglicans and Roman Catholics, with recommendations for the future.
Dr Farquhar, along with the Church of Ireland's retired Bishop Samuel Poyntz, represented Ireland at a gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from 13 countries at a week-long ecumenical meeting in Canada last May.
In a statement after the meeting the bishops spoke of their belief that the common ground between Anglicans and Catholics was "such that greater co-operation and mission is possible than is currently the case".
Father John McManus, spokesman for the diocese of Down and Connor, said Dr Farquhar's appointment was "a great tribute to the commitment of the Catholic Church in Ireland to the ecumenical cause. It is an international acknowledgment that the Catholic Church in Ireland has shown it regards ecumenism as part of the church's life and mission."
