Warning on use of churches in face of violence

Members of a Church of Ireland delegation from Belfast said yesterday that the church's bishops should, if need be, cancel services or the use of its buildings where either could be used "as a prelude for confrontation and violence".

In an oral submission in Dublin yesterday to the church's sub-committee on sectarianism, the group of six, including Canon Charles Kenny of St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, said that "specifically as regards Loyal Order church parades which give rise to public strife and serious divisive controversy the church cannot properly assume that it is without responsibility for the consequences.

"We consider it in accordance with scripture that the bishops either individually or collectively should act on this matter by calling upon those at variance to meet face to face to resolve their difficulties, and that they should, if need be, cancel, postpone or relocate such services.

"As our Lord refused his disciples' request to use force against the Samaritans who were hindering their movements, so it is unscriptural for our church to let its buildings and its worship be used as a prelude for confrontation and violence," the group said.

It said it considered sectarianism "to be one of the most significant issues for us all in this [Northern Ireland] society".

It was "dismayed" that an opportunity had not been taken at the General Synod last month "to make an incisive public statement" on the issue in the context of the sub-committee's interim report.

It had specifically in mind "the fraught issues of Loyal Order church parades and the associated flying of the Union Jack on church property during the marching season as an apparent symbol of Protestant triumphalism".

It was conscious also of matters such as the church and schools question and "the harsh 16th-century language of the XXXIX Articles, which contrasts with more recent ecumenical development in thinking of the Church of Ireland and the rest of the Christian world".

In its view, the group felt "these matters go to the very heart of the nature of the church and its relation to the political and social institutions of a particular society. We are convinced that there is something seriously wrong when a church is reasonably perceived to be aligned, at least to some degree, with factional political and social institutions," it said.

Following the submission, Canon Kenny said its content was "genuinely coincidental" with the proximity of Drumcree, and had been scheduled some time ago.

There was, he said, "a lot more to it than Drumcree." One of the main reasons the group had made its submission was to ensure the sub-committee would produce "something forthright, something that is not bland or wishy-washy."