The new Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Alan Harper, said yesterday that it was "a time to turn from truce to peace".
Speaking in a homily at his enthronement ceremony in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, he said "our task is to sew together the rent fabric of our common life with sutures of mutual acceptance, strong enough to secure time for sustained healing, to knit us together in love."
He said that "the churches must be the first to confront the sins of the past - the beams in our own eye."
President Mary McAleese and the Duke of Edinburgh both read at the ceremony. They entered the cathedral side by side after a decision to set aside the protocol which would have had Prince Philip enter first.
Archbishop Harper, speaking to the media after the ceremony, strongly urged politicians in the new Northern Ireland Assembly to agree a powersharing deal by March 26th. He said that part of the "very strong mandate given politicians" in the recent elections was an expression of the will of the people that, "as rapidly as possible, they find new ways to partnership government".
He said he took seriously March 26th as a final deadline and that it was too good an opportunity to miss. It was also a better option than plan B, which the two governments might devise, he said. "Sometimes you've got to make your mind up and work within constraints to shape the future with boldness," he said, adding that he hoped that was what party leaderships would do.
Sinn Féin MLAs Conor Murphy and Martina Anderson were among the congregation, as well as the DUP Mayor of Armagh William Irwin. The Catholic Primate of All-Ireland Dr Sean Brady, the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Dr Ken Newell, and the President of the Methodist Church, Rev Ivan McElhinney, also attended. Senator Martin Mansergh represented the Taoiseach.
The first reading, by President McAleese, was from the Prophet Isaiah and concluded "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined."
The Duke of Edinburgh read from the Gospel of St Luke, concluding "do to others as you would have them do to you."
In his sermon Archbishop Harper said the "wounds that are the sign of our divisions are deep and stubbornly hard to heal, yet you and I, with the whole Church of God, are charged with that healing our antagonisms, some very ancient, others painfully fresh, have damaged and compromised our family life. For many the hurt is personal, deep and sickeningly painful."
Referring to the parable of the prodigal son, he said it was "a story we must ponder for our community life." But, he continued, "there was another son, the elder He had been loyal and diligent, respectful and caring (he) resents his returning brother. He is angry and hurt for all the pain and distress his father has suffered; he desires no swift reconciliation.
"Such a reaction roots us in a reality we know well that is where we find ourselves now in Northern Ireland: some exhausted by pain and enmity yet longing to begin anew; others finding old hurts hard to put away, reminded by the ravages of pain in the faces of the people they love of a past they find it hard to leave behind.
"Therein is the challenge confronting us all but, especially, those newly called to elected office," he said.