More greetings today, as the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork approaches, this time from the Bishop of Strängnäs, in the Church of Sweden: the Right Reverend Dr Johan Dalman.

Bishop Colton and Bishop Dalman have known one another since the late 1980s when they worked together on the conversations that led to the Porvoo Agreement establishing the Porvoo Communion of Churches; between Anglicans in Great Britain and Ireland and Evangelical Lutherans in the Nordic and Baltic Countries.

Bishop Dalman has made a number of visits to Cork, as has Bishop Colton to the Church of Sweden, including to attend Bishop Dalman’s consecration as Bishop. In 2016, Bishop Dalman preached in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral on the occasion of his visit to Cork, Cloyne and Ross with the members of the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Strängnäs.

This is one of the many greetings from around the world, from Ireland, and from Cork, that are coming in as the 150th anniversary of the consecration, on 30th November 1870, of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork approaches.

The present day cathedral, designed by William Burges, is the most recent building on the site where Christian worship and witness have 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.

The Bishop wrote: