The Church of Ireland Bishop of Connor, the Right Rev Alan Harper, has been elected Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland, with effect from February 2nd.
He was presented at a press conference in Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral yesterday "with great personal delight" by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill, who described Dr Harper as "a man of deep faith, great ability, and pastoral insight".
Dr Neill said the church's House of Bishops had gathered at Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick last Monday afternoon "in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, including periods of silence". There, discussions took place and Dr Harper was elected on Tuesday.
Dr Harper said he was "deeply humbled and honoured" by the trust placed in him by his brother bishops. He was very conscious of the great respon-sibility involved and he expressed gratitude to the people and clergy of Connor diocese, where he had served for 22 years.
It was, he said, "a particular privilege" to follow Archbishop Robin Eames, but he pointed out that "there are no clones in the Church of Ireland". He would be himself.
Praising his fellow bishops, whom he described as "a remarkably gifted group of men" who had been brought closer together than he had imagined possible over recent days, he emphasised the importance to him of collegiality in decision-making.
His priorities in the new role would be the diocese of Armagh, getting to know the people there and their needs. Next would be the House of Bishops where, with his colleagues, he would see that the way they did business was in the most responsive manner.
His third priority would be to see what they could offer the wider Anglican Communion.
He was personally committed to engagement across the denominations and had a strong personal commitment to social engagement, as well as strong belief that the church needed to engage people, not simply on Sunday, but from Monday to Saturday as well.
Asked about the current political situation in Northern Ireland, he said it was not his job to tell politicians what to do "but to help create a space for an agenda to be developed".
He encouraged the politicians, for the benefit of everyone, to seek engagement and to enable one another come into a position of agreement.
He was "thoroughly, totally committed" to efforts to remove sectarianism from within the church.
"I believe we must remove the beam from our own eyes before asking others remove the mote from theirs."
It would take generations and did not involve Northern Ireland only.
His election was warmly welcomed last night by the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, the Presbyterian moderator Dr David Clarke, and his predecessor, Dr Eames.
Bishop Alan Edwin Thomas Harper: a life
Bishop Alan Edwin Thomas Harper will be Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland with effect from February 2nd, the feast of the presentation of Christ in the temple. Born on March 20th, 1944, at Tamworth in Staffordshire, he attended primary and grammar school there before going to Leeds university where in 1965 he took an honours degree in geography.
In July 1966 he was appointed to the Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland (later the Historic Monuments Inspectorate) as field officer and later as senior inspector of historic monuments. He spent five years in Co Armagh working on an excavations survey, getting to know the county "from the bottom up", as he said yesterday.
In 1974 he became principal assistant planning officer (archaeology and environment) at the planning department of Staffordshire County Council. In 1975, at the age of 31, he began studying for a divinity degree at Trinity College Dublin. He was ordained deacon in 1978 and priest in 1979.
He was a curate at Ballywillan (Co Down) in Connor diocese from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 to 1982 he was rector at Moville (Co Donegal) in Derry diocese, after which he served at Christ Church in Derry until 1986. From 1986 to 2002 he was rector at Malone (Belfast) in Connor diocese and was archdeacon there from 1990 to 2001. He was appointed chairman of the Historic Monuments Council for Northern Ireland from 1986 to 1995. In 1996 he received an OBE for services to conservation in Northern Ireland.
He was elected Bishop of Connor on December 17th, 2001, and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland on Tuesday. He is married to Helen. They have four children with a grandchild due in April.
... Patsy McGarry