A special meeting of the Church of Ireland General Synod will take place on Saturday, November 15th, to discuss the future of its Tuam, Killala and Achonry diocese in the west of Ireland.
The meeting, at the Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co Dublin, follows a resolution overwhelmingly passed at the annual diocesan synod of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, in Westport, on September 25th. It called for the immediate appointment of a bishop to the diocese.
A vacancy has existed there since June, when Bishop John Neill was transferred to Cashel and Ossory. Members at the Westport synod feared the vacancy could continue for too long as a church commission is preparing a report on the future of the church's dioceses.
The Commission on Episcopal Ministry and Diocesan Boundaries was set up in March 1995, and is not due to report to the General Synod until May of next year. It had been decided that the church's electoral college would not appoint any new bishops until after that.
However, at the Westport Synod, 58 of the 60 members voted in favour of a motion requesting the "immediate" election of a bishop. One member opposed the motion and one abstained.
The Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, who presided at the Westport synod, agreed to consider the need for such an appointment. Failure to agree on reorganisation proposals had delayed filling the vacancy, he indicated.
The one-day special meeting of the General Synod will deal only with the future of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. Proceedings will begin with a service at 11 a.m., and formal business will start at 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Armagh diocesan synod takes place next Monday at the Synod Hall in Armagh, while the Dublin diocesan synod will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, at Taney Hall, Dundrum.
