Greetings from Burundi ~ St Fin Barre’s 150

Today’s greeting, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the consecration-of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork, is from the Anglican Church in Burundi; from the Archbishop, the Most Reverend Martin Blaise Nyaboho. In October 2017 the Archbishop made a visit to Cork, Cloyne and Ross and preached at the Harvest Festival in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

As the 150th anniversary of the consecration, on 30th November 1870, of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork approaches, greetings such as this, from Cork, Ireland and around the world are coming in.

The present day cathedral, designed by William Burges, is the most recent building on the site where Christian worship and witness has been offered in Cork since the Seventh Century.

Since the CoronaVirus Pandemic has put a halt to all the traditional celebrations, different ways of marking the occasion have been put in place, including the sharing with you of these greetings.

Cork, Cloyne and Ross, is currently in the second phase of a partnership project with the Anglican Church in Burundi. The people of Burundi have lived through decades of conflict and political instability. It remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Since 2016, the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Burundi project is in conjunction with Christian Aid, in partnership with the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal. It has been supported by parishes, individuals and schoolchildren from Cork, Cloyne and Ross.

To date €70,000 has been raised. In phase one of the project the money from Cork, Cloyne and Ross was used to form three cooperatives: Dutabarane and Terimbere. Cooperatives in Matana Diocese, and Igogoretse in Makamba Diocese, working with Christian Aid’s local partner, the Anglican Church of Burundi. The main objective was to increase maize production and to help the cooperative members to move from a subsistence farming model towards a business model of agriculture.

Commitment to the project was renewed this year in order to continue training local farmers, providing storage and new machinery for the cooperatives, with the focus on enabling the farmers to get their produce into larger markets.