CARDINAL Leon-Josef Suenens arrived in Ireland for a week-long stay on Sunday. He is the guest of Cardinal Tomas 0 Fiaich, Primate of All Ireland, and the visit coincides with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Cardinal Suenens will preach at the ecumenical service at St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina today. Earlier in the week he had attended ecumenical events at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Belfast and at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh. His theme at the Belfast service was "You shall be my witness".
Cardinal Suenens has visited Ireland on several occasions. The retired archbishop of Malignes — Brussels was the principal speaker at an international charismatic conference in Dublin, and in 1982 he attended a gathering at the shrine of Knock.
During his stay this time, the 8I-year-old Cardinal will meet with various groups of clergy and laity from different denominations in Dundalk, Dublin and Ballina.