Sometimes there is a confluence of events that cries out for attention on a worldwide scale. The events may be small in themselves but, placed together, they make a compelling case for people to reflect on and consider as they make their way, day by day, through the world as they know it.

Three of those events worth mentioning occurred recently. The first, minor but unprecedented, saw the first ever address at Trinity College's annual Trinity Monday Thanksgiving Service delivered by a Catholic prelate, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin.

That such could occur at TCD would have been unthinkable in years gone bye by many who knew the history of that august institution, founded by the first Elizabeth of England as a means of propagating what to the native Irishry was the heresy of protestanism.

But it was inevitable. Not so long ago Trinity chose its first Catholic Provost.

In his address the Archbishop stressed that there is no conflict between science and religion, a particularly timely topic as will be seen in another item in this month's e-zine.

He said: "Faith and science are not opposed. The history of Trinity College shows that this is certainly the case. Among Trinity's greatest scientists, researchers and teachers were many who were clearly inspired by their faith. The dialogue between faith and science was an active and fruitful one throughout the history of this University."

"The path to belief and the path to science both pass through a journey of questioning, of openness to ideas, and above all of asking those questions to which there is no mechanical formula of response: the fundamental questions concerning the meaning of human existence and of hope."

The second event had a more global significance in matters of Christian beliefs and dogma. It was the issuance of a document, agreed on by an international committee of Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians, regarding the role and importance of Mary, the virgin Mother of God.

Once cited as one of the main reasons for the breakaway formation of the Anglican church, a dispute lingered for centuries between the two churches on the issue of devotion to Mary. "Too much emphasis on Mary" claimed one side, "Too little emphasis on Mary" claimed the other.

In 1970 dialogue between the two churches was established through ARCIC, the Anglican and Roman Catholic International Commission, and since then it has resulted in statements on a number of issues separating them in the past. The latest document titled "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ" adds further impulse toward reconciliation between the Anglican and Catholic communions, though other issues remain to be resolved.

Driven by personal impulse, the present writer cannon refrain from relating one of his earliest experiences of the closeness between Anglicans and Catholics. It was in the 1950s during my first visit to London. Arriving on Saturday my first foray next day was to attend Sunday Mass. It was three-quarter way through the service before I realized it wasn't quite the usual Sunday Mass I was accustomed to, and the realization became all the greater when I noticed the absence of the usual red sanctuary lamp! It was an Anglican church and an Anglican Mass.

Afterwards I felt bound to seek a Catholic church to attend a Catholic Mass. Imagine spending the whole of your first Sunday morning in London going to two Masses! And imagine the shock I felt when I couldn't differentiate between the two! It was a truism, "So near, and yet so far."

The third event in the past month saw the coming together of prayer and tragedy.

A horrific accident involving a school bus in Ireland resulted in the deaths of five schoolgirls. In many countries, parents whose children are bussed to school can relate to the tragedy. It is a daily worry. Will their children arrive safely? Will they return home safely?

The argument around the installation of seatbelts on school busses is an ongoing one, and the deaths of the Irish schoolgirls have brought it into greater consciousness. The listing of their names may help in putting a human face on the debate: Aimee McCabe, Claire McCluskey, Deirdre Scanlon, Lisa Callan, and Sinead Ledwidge.

Aimee, Claire, Deridre, Lisa, and Sinead. They could have been anyone's daughters. In death they are all our daughters. And in death they inspired the reading of a single prayer at all their funerals, a prayer written and dedicated to them by Fr Bede Jarrett.

"We give them back to you, O Lord, who first gave them to us.
As you did not lose them in the giving, so we do not lose them in the return.
Not as the world gives do you give, O lover of souls.
For what is yours is ours also - if we belong to you.
Life is unending because love is undying.
The boundaries of this life are but an horizon,
and a horizon is but the limit of our earthly vision.
Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further!
Strengthen our faith that we may see beyond the horizon!
And while you prepare a place for them, as you have promised,
prepare us also for that happy place;
That where you are, we may be also, with those we have loved forever.
Amen."

It is a prayer that all creeds can share.

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