ST. PATRICK'S DAY
MASS FOR PEACE
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2008
10:00 AM at PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
6th and University, downtown Seattle.

Click HERE for Mass for Peace Photos

The main celebrant and Homilist was Seattle's Catholic Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett, while the guest speaker was European Ambassador John Bruton who was Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister) from 1994 to 1997. As Taoiseach, he was deeply involved in the Northern Irish Peace Process leading to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Click here for more information on Ambassador Bruton.

There is a tremendous symbolism in this annual gathering of Catholics and others on St. Patrick's Day in a Protestant Church, for a Catholic Mass for Peace in Ireland. For information, call 425-745-1034 or email Mass@irishclub.org.

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2008 Mass for Peace Guest Speaker

Ambassador John Bruton
European Ambassador to the US,
Former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Click on the photo for more information.

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2007 MASS SPEAKER

Dr. William J. Abraham
Belfast-born Professor of Theology,
Southern Methodist University, Dallas

Dr. William J. Abraham was born in Belfast in 1947. Having studied at Queen's University, Belfast and Asbury Theological Seminary, Abraham received a doctoral degree in philosophy from Oxford. He then went on to serve as a Methodist minister in Ireland and on the faculty at Seattle Pacific University before becoming Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas from 1985 to 1995. In 1995 he was appointed to the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins, working as a philosophical and systematic theologian.

Among his many honors, Abraham was the recipient of a grant from the Pew Evangelical Scholars Program and the Lilly Foundation. He preaches and lectures extensively in the US, Europe and central Asia.

Abraham and his wife of 29 years, Muriel, have three children, Timothy, Siobhan, and Shaun. Although they still own a house in Belfast, he and his wife live in Carrolton, Texas, and attend Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas

Other Mass for Peace Speakers

2006 MASS SPEAKER

Rev Barry Keating,
Belfast-born Pastor,
Maplewood Presbyterian Church, Edmonds.

Born in 1952, Rev. Keating grew up in Protestant East Belfast, but
while in High School got involved in the Corrymeela Reconciliation
Community. He studied at Queens University, Belfast, and after
graduating in 1974, briefly played professional soccer in England.
He studied Theology and was ordained a Presbyterian Minister in
1980, initially ministering at Lisburn Presbyterian Church outside
Belfast. Much of his career has been spent as a Chaplain in hospitals
and prisons, including for a while as Chaplain at the Maze Prison
(Long Kesh) where those charged with terrorism- related offenses
were incarcerated. Besides ministering in Edmonds, he also serves on
the Presbyterian Church (USA) Northern Ireland Committee, and also
on the Board of Seattle’s Irish Heritage Club. He is married to Nancy
and they have one daughter, Shea.

2005 MASS SPEAKER

Most Rev Anthony Farquhar
Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor,
Northern Ireland.
Down and Connor is the Diocese that covers all of Co. Antrim,
including Belfast, and parts of Co. Down and Co. Derry.
Ordained priest 13th March 1965;
ordained Titular Bishop of Ermiana and
Auxiliary to Bishop of Down and Connor 15th May 1983.

2004 MASS SPEAKER

Rev Ken Newell
Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Ireland
Pastor, Fitzroy Presbyterian Church
Belfast, Northern Ireland

2003 MASS SPEAKER
Most Rev. Edward Daly DD
Retired Bishop of Derry, Northern Ireland

Above: the picture of then Fr. Daly waving a bloody handkerchief as
he and several others carry the fatally wounded 17-year-old Jackie Duddy
past the British soldiers on January 30, 1972, known as Bloody Sunday.
Below is the same scene as portrayed in the 2002 movie Bloody Sunday.

Bishop Daly's own personal account of Bloody Sunday 
is contained in his book Mister, Are You a Priest?, published
in 2000 by Dublin's Four Courts Press. To read the chapter
in the book that describes Bloody Sunday, go to 
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/daly/daly00.htm.
For more information or to purchase his book, go to 
www.four-courts-press.ie/cgi/bookshow.cgi?file=daly.xml.

Bishop Daly with Nobel Laureate John Hume and playwright Brian Friel
at St. Columb's in Derry, the school all three attended.

Pictures from prior years

At the end of Mass.

The Homily by Archbishop Brunett.

The Rev. Lesley Carroll, Pastor, 
Fortwilliam Presbyterian Church, Belfast, 
who spoke at the 2001 St. Patrick's Day Mass for Peace.