Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference
The Irish Bishops' Conference is the official gathering of the Catholic Bishops in Ireland. Irish Bishops Conferences generally take place a number of times a year in Maynooth, County Kildare, the location of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland's national Catholic Seminary. While each bishop is autonomous in his own diocese, meetings of the Conference give bishops a chance to discuss issues of mutual concern, or issues of national policy.
Background
In the Catholic Church the Bishops' Conference is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities, but were first established as formal bodies by the Second Vatican Council (Christus Dominus, 38), and implemented by Pope Paul VI's 1966 motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae.[1] The operation, authority, and responsibilities of episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law (see especially canons 447-459).[2] The nature of episcopal conferences, and their magisterial authority in particular, was subsequently clarified by Pope John Paul II's 1998 motu proprio Apostolos suos.
Certain tasks and authority are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by canon law, the decisions of an episcopal conference are subject to ratification from the Holy See. Individual bishops do not relinquish their authority to the conference, and remain responsible for the governance of their respective diocese.
Composition
The Irish Bishops' Conference is made up of the 26 Irish diocesan bishops (ordinaries) and a number of auxiliary bishops. The conference transcends the political boundaries on the island of Ireland and comprises both jurisdictions.
Presidency
By convention, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland as the most-senior Churchman in Ireland is President of the Irish Bishops' Conference. This tradition has prevailed even when the Archbishop of Dublin is a Cardinal and the Archbishop of Armagh is not a member of the College of Cardinals.
List of Presidents
Archbishop Seán Brady - current Cardinal Cahal Daly - Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich Cardinal William Conway
Structure
Beneath the Bishops' Conference are the regional or provincial meetings of bishops
Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference — which might also include neighboring countries.
The Archbishop of Armagh, as Primate of All Ireland, is the chairperson of the Irish Bishop's Conference. The current Archbishop is Sean Brady.