The Catholic primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady, has called on the IRA to end its campaign for good.
The Archbishop made the comments in a newspaper article to mark the 10th anniversary of the first IRA ceasefire.
Dr Brady also called on unionists to fulfill their obligation to build confidence. Nationalists, he said, need to be reassured about their commitment to sharing enduring executive power and working the north/south institutions.
He also said that nationalists had to reassure unionists that Protestant traditions would be treated with similar respect.
A decision by the IRA to remove itself, said Dr Brady, would not only be an historic event of the utmost importance, but an expression of self-confidence by republicans.
He called on the IRA to remove "what has been described as the 'excuse' of its continued armed existence from the current political context".
He said he would be disappointed if such a move was not met with an equally positive response on the part of loyalist groups, unionists and the British government.
Dr Brady also repeated his call for a public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
