United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
Diocesan Synod Address
by The Right Revd Andrew Orr,
Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
on 10th October 2026, in Bandon Grammar School, Bandon, County Cork
We meet again as a Diocesan Synod in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and twenty-six. My predecessor, the Right Revd Dr Paul Colton, spent much of last year’s address looking back on his time as Bishop, all twenty-seven years of it, including all the highlights and challenges. Clearly if I did the same, this would be a very short address, and we could all break for lunch almost immediately…
However, while this will not be a long Synod address, there are things I would wish to say to you as a Diocesan Synod. I have been, of course, a clergy person in this diocese for eight years now, and Archdeacon for the last almost four years, so I do have some, albeit fragmentary, knowledge of the places and people across the county and diocese, as well as some ideas and pointers as to how we might journey together and the challenges we might face. But they should not be regarded as exhaustive or limiting. No doubt more will emerge as we walk together over the next years.
A challenging world
Last year, Bishop Paul referred to the precarious times in which we live. One could hardly say they have become less precarious. At the consecration last week, one of the bishops present was the Bishop of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was there because he was shadowing the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, who was representing the Church of England. His story is a snapshot of how the Christian faith is lived out in a context very different to ours, and in a truly precarious part of the world.
The Bishop of Goma, Martin Gordon, was born and worked in the UK until in 2020. At the invitation of Bishop Désiré Mukanirwa Kadhoro he and his family relocated to Goma to assist with theological education through the Church Mission Society. But before they arrived, Bishop Désiré died in the Covid epidemic. The primate invited Martin to be temporary Vicar General, and then in 2023, he was elected the second Bishop of Goma.
The City of Goma has about three quarters of a million people, but there are an additional half a million refugees there since the genocide in Rwanda and the the first and second Congo wars which followed. In addition to that, 40% of the city were destroyed by the eruptions of the nearby Niragongo volcano in 2002 and 2021. Conflict and strife continue to rage, and the Bishop and his family have had to evacuate to neighbouring Rwanda.
That’s just one snapshot of a Christian community living out their faith in a challenging world.
Added to the conflicts mentioned last year—Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Gaza, the West Bank—is, of course, the war between the Unites States and Iran which has damaged trade, caused a huge spike in fuel costs, and that in turn has led to rising inflation in Ireland and across the globe. And a resolution does not seem close.
This is one of the challenges that aid and relief organisations such as our own Bishops’ Appeal face. We also want to keep our own diocesan project Liloma in mind here.
Challenges at home
I am conscious, too, of the precarious times in our own country. The housing crisis continues, and the rising cost of living is making life very difficult for many people, so much so, that many people under the age of 35 see no realistic prospect of ever owning their own home. Fuel costs, as I mentioned above, keeping on rising and rising. As a result, sadly, we are seeing a return of the emigration that blighted so much of this country’s history. I want to highlight here the work of Protestant Aid and our own Bishop of Cork Pastoral Care Fund, in which we do what we can to help those in greatest need.
And even more sadly, instead of looking at the root causes of these problems, increasing numbers of people and sections of the media are choosing to blame those who have immigrated to this country. I cannot do better than to quote our own Primate, Archbishop McDowell in his address to general Synod earlier this year:
It is my own view that our attitude to migration in Ireland, both north and south, is one of the great touchstones and tests of our Christian authenticity. It is possible to take a wide range of views on immigration policy which may be broadly consistent with belief in Christ and in the particular form of human equality which is articulated in the New Testament. But it seems to me that there is a fairly simple imperative when it comes to the “stranger that is in your midst”, and that is to welcome him or her and to care for him or her. […]
Migrants to this island want what we all want-to bring up children in security and decency; to provide them with a good education and the chance of a stable future. And to contribute to the communities in which they live. They bring with them enormous energy and fortitude and very often scarce skills. For these and other reasons there is every rational reason to welcome them.
He went on to say:
However from the Churches’ point of view, the more worrying development is the rise of the so called Christian Right. These groups emphasise what they claim to be the undermining of “Christian civilisation” or “Judeao-Christian” values and the discrimination which they say Christians are subjected to. And they use the Cross—the very epitome of powerlessness, and what a very advanced “civilisation” inflicted on Jesus—as some kind of symbol of their dominance and superiority. Exactly which aspect of discipleship in Jesus Christ is being exercised by baying outside a hostel while terrified children are inside? How is parading around the streets draped in a national flag representing the mind of the God of all the nations, who said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not our ways […] for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Our own island
Most worryingly, for ourselves as a Church and as citizens of this island, has been the return of communal strife at Drumcree outside Portadown; something most of us thought had long been put to bed. And it is deeply unpleasant for us to see a Church of Ireland parish church in the middle of this.
As you know, I grew up in Belfast, and perhaps you might expect me to bring some particular insight into what is going on and why it has returned now. But I am conscious that it is over 30 years since I lived there, and when I did live there, we were always fed up with people from outside making ill informed and clueless comments about the so called “Troubles”. So I do not wish to add to the those outside comments, other than to remind you that while we are just a few hundred kilometres away, we have lived here with a very different reality for the last one hundred years; largely without the discrimination, the violence, the atmosphere of mutual suspicion and the perceived threats from one side or the other.
Peace and peace making is a fragile flower, easily crushed even by those who mean well. So, I would just ask you to pray for those who work daily in the North to bring reconciliation and understanding and have often paid a high price for doing so.
Being the Church
So that brings us to being the Church of Ireland here in Cork, Cloyne and Ross. We are called to be the people of God in our communities, where ever we find ourselves. We are the Easter people, the people brought together because of the hope that we find in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we do this in our distinctively Anglican way.
My wife Susan worked for many months on the preparations for the ACC-19, the Anglican Consultative Council’s nineteenth meeting, held in Belfast in June, and I joined her for some of the sessions.
There were Anglicans from across the globe there. I travelled five hours in relative comfort to be in Belfast; some had travelled through war zones. I have relative peace and plenty in living out my life in Ireland; some come from communities that are hungry. I come from a place where the faith has been present for centuries—this diocese was founded considerably before there was any thought of a bishop or archbishop at Canterbury; others came from churches that have only joined the Anglican Communion during my lifetime. Some of us come from places where churches are in decline; others come from places racing to plant enough churches to cope with the growth in faith that they are seeing. I met someone whose job included planning the planting of 2000 churches over the next 3 years. The person speaking before me was from the Anglican Church on the pacific island of Vanuatu, which is in real danger of disappearing due to climate change.
Such conversations blow your mind. They expand your imagination and go beyond any experience of the church you could imagine. A lot of the discussions were around what it means to be Anglicans and our relationships to one another. Our basic identity has laid out for us, Bishop Paul reminded us of it before he finished, and I repeat it.
It is set out in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, resolution 11 of the Lambeth Conference in 1888 which put down the four cornerstones of who we are:
- The Holy Scriptures, as containing all things necessary to salvation;
- The creeds (specifically, the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds), as the sufficient statement of Christian faith;
- The dominical sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion;
- The historic episcopate, locally adapted.
That is who we are, and we should not be ashamed, or embarrassed to proclaim it.
The five marks of mission
The five marks of mission should continue, I believe, to set our priorities as a diocese. Briefly they are:
TELL
Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
TEACH
Teach, baptise and nurture new believers
TEND
Respond to human need by loving service
TRANSFORM
Transform unjust structures of society, challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
TREASURE
Strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth
How do we put those five marks into practice? How do we make them real for us on the ground?
This time last year we held our five roadshows around the diocese where we asked parishioners to discuss where they saw the future. It is taken some time to process the results, not least because of the change of bishop, the departure of a key member of the team and other time constraints. Nevertheless, we will have a document read for Select Vestries very shortly.
Personally, I was very impressed by the willingness of those attending the roadshows to face the future with confidence and a willingness to embrace change. Some of the key issues that came up on many occasions included:
- Making better use of our church buildings during the week, for coffee spaces, toddler groups, retreats and quiet places.
- Enhancing communications about what is going on and how to find our churches.
- Being realistic about financial support and how we can increase giving from those who are on the margins but still wish to support the church presence.
- Asking hard questions about whether we spend too much on buildings and not enough on Mission and ministry.
- Empowering and supporting our parishioners to take on key tasks in the parish, but at the same time supporting the clergy to do the work for which they were ordained, and encouraging new vocations to the priesthood. This is vital: the shortage of full time, stipendiary clergy is heading for a crisis. The Ordained Local Ministers and Diocesan readers are superb, and we value their ministry deeply: but we need our full time clergy with their ability to dedicate themselves full time to the service of God and parish. Vocations are nurtured by parishes: they happen by bringing people into leadership in their parishes and then encouraging them with a quiet word about their suitability for ministry.
- Prioritising work with children, families and young people. Our Children and Family Ministry Group in the Diocese has been working hard, under the leadership of Rev Elise Hanley, to keep this ministry to the fore. But This is a task for all of us, not just those who take on those ministries. The way in which welcome young families and new people make a huge difference. First impressions matter.
- In worship, ask whether we have too many services, or whether services could be held at times other than Sunday mornings. And yet, balanced against that is the pride that so many take in their local church building and what has meant to their family, often for generations.
- The need for discipleship: how do we strengthen and deepen the faith of our parishioners. Rev Terry Mitchell our Adult Education Officer is developing a range of courses of varying lengths both in person and online and I would encourage all of us in our parishes to make use of these. They are often the first step to people taking on new ministry.
- Pioneer Ministry is beginning our across our diocese, as it is across the island of Ireland. Centrally funded, this ministry is tasked to reach those with little or no connection to church. This has the potential to be very exciting, and I look forward to seeing how it unfolds over the coming years.
There are signs of hope everywhere: there has been much talk of a “quiet revival” in faith across Europe and anecdotally it seems to be there. A friend of mine, rector in an ordinary rural parish in South West England, has baptised six adults in the last ten months. In a world where the future is uncertain, where the financial stability that most of us took for granted is now on shaky ground, people are turning again to the Christian message of hope. “What is seen is temporary, but is unseen is eternal” as St. Paul writes. Are we ready and open to welcome those who are seeking truth?
Thank You
Thank you to so many people who supported me over the last few months as Commissary and through this period after my election as Bishop. It has been a tumultuous time, with both ups and downs. I should like particularly to thank all of you who have contacted me to pledge your support when things were briefly tough. Thank you to our diocesan staff who have a particularly busy summer and early autumn, organising the Consecration, the Installations, this Diocesan Synod and the Triennial Elections, all within a few weeks. A huge Thank You to my wonderful family and especially to my wife Susan, who has stepped down as Dean of Cloyne, but is not retiring: she will be active in other ways in ministry in the diocese.
Thank you to you the clergy and lay people of the diocese. You have been immensely kind and supportive. I feel very blessed to be here and honoured to be your Bishop (and if I’m honest, nervous too). To quote the psalmist “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.” (Psalm 16:6) Thank you and may God bless us richly in the years to come.
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