SacredSpace102fm - Interview with Dean Maurice Sirr, retired Dean of St Mary's Cathedral Limerick - 22 Jan 2012

January 18th to 25th is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and in 2012, Sacred Space102fm decided to get out and make the acquaintance of our christian neighbours in the Church of Ireland United Diocese of Limerick & Killaloe. John has a special interview with Maurice Sirr, the retired Dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Limerick City.

Dean Maurice - originally from county Monaghan - "Drumlin country" - was born the son of a rector, he attended boarding school in Dundalk, studied in Dublin at Trinity College before ordination for ministry, served in Belfast where he met and married his wife before serving in Sligo for eighteen years and then to Limerick where he became the Dean and Rector of Limerick City parish. As Dean, he has had responsibility for the cathedral church of a diocese; responsible with the team supporting him for administrating the cathedral and services.

The Church of Ireland is an episcopal church (i.e. it has a bishops in charge of its dioceses) in the Anglican tradition and is a member of the Anglican Communion. It is an independent self-governing church through its General Synod consisting of the Houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity in various proportions. The General Synod makes the rules for the governance of the Church of Ireland with the bishops.Traditions within the Church of Ireland would be a strong focus on being a biblical church often demonstrated by the tradition of the family bible and its daily use in the prayer life of the families. The Church of Ireland highlights two Gospel sacraments - Baptism and Holy Communion. Other sacraments in the church include marriage and penance.

John and Dean Maurice discuss some of the differences between our two faith communities but also stress how many are the things that unite us far out way what divides us. Various topics discussed include the differences in methods to handing on the faith education through Sunday schools, the tradition of singing in church, the challenges of youth ministry, the challenges of ministry and vocations to ministry in the Church of Ireland. They look at the different forms of devotion, types of liturgies and services, discuss the different emphasis on the role of Mary and the traditions in both traditions towards the Mother of God.