Dr Connell insists he stands over communion comments

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, insisted in Rome last night that he stood over his controversial comments on inter-church communion, although he never intended to offend Church of Ireland members.

Speaking in the Vatican ahead of his elevation tomorrow to cardinal, Dr Connell pointed to his record of ecumenism, stressing he had done everything to foster good relationships with the Church of Ireland.

He also said he was the "only person [Catholic bishop] who went on his knees with the Archbishop of Dublin [Church of Ireland] before the Archbishop of Canterbury expressed regret for hurts between Catholics and Protestants. And washed feet in Christ Church cathedral".

That was just one of "many efforts and gestures" he had made in the context of ecumenism. He also had "the best committee on ecumenism in the whole country, not including the Bishops' Conference".

He had done "everything I can to foster good relations with the Church of Ireland" and it had never been his intention to cause any upset or offence to members of the Church of Ireland.

The Archbishop said he also found it "a little difficult [to understand] that I can be criticised by a bishop from another church on a chat show without it causing the slightest ripple in the media".

He was referring to criticisms of him made by Church of Ireland Bishop John Neill, of Ferns, on RTE One's Prime Time programme, shortly after Dr Connell's elevation was announced.

Dr Connell said his comments on inter-church communion in a Sunday Business Post interview "added nothing whatever" to what was in the One Bread One Body document on the issue, published by the Irish Catholic bishops in 1998.

It was "one item in a long interview. It is a very real issue and when asked a straight question I gave a straight answer. I didn't say it was a matter of no importance. Of course it is a matter of great importance".

He also said he was not up to form on the day he gave the interview as he had been awake all the previous night with toothache. He had had the nerve seen to at the dentist's the morning of the interview. However, he stood by the interview.

In a statement yesterday the Church of Ireland primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, said he had read Dr Connell's comments, which he felt were "in part a repetition of the views he has already made known on inter-church communion".

However, he expressed regret "that he has also chosen this occasion to criticise the equally well-established position of the Church of Ireland. We have said repeatedly that Holy Communion, where we gather at the Lord's table, is open to anyone who is practising and a communicant member of their own church.

"For us this is also a sincere principle. No one is forced to attend and no one should feel excluded. Holy Communion is the deepest and most personal expression of worship for any Christian. It is tragic that we have to view this service as a source of division between churches."