Madam, - Those who know what Clonard Monastery stands for and what we have done through the years to bring the violent conflict in the North to an end will be amazed and outraged by what William Frazer says about us in his October 13th posting on the FAIR website: "The clergy of Clonard Monastery have blood on their hands as it was they who sanctioned and supported the use of violence and by both acts of commission and omission were instrumental in the creation of the PIRA."
From this comment of his, your readers can now see for themselves why Fr Alec Reid, and others who were present, found William Frazer's insinuations at the recent Fitzroy meeting so provocative.
Here are the facts about Clonard Monastery and Fr Reid. With the solid support of everyone in the monastery, Fr Alec Reid developed the Redemptorist Peace Ministry on the principled basis that there was a better way than armed struggle to work for the political aims of freedom and self-determination.
Fr Alec understood the strength and cogency of the Republican commitment to the physical force tradition in British/Irish politics. But however much he felt thwarted and devastated by the military actions of the IRA he never gave up in his efforts to demonstrate to them that there was a better way to work for their goals.
His constant aim was to help unite all Irish nationalists in one democratic project which, by its focus and cohesion, would open the way for the political leaders of Britain and Ireland to negotiate an end to the long and terrible nightmare of both nationalists and unionists in Northern Ireland.
Fr Alec's achievement is a matter of history. For instance, to quote the journalist Ed Maloney, "to say that he is the unrecognised inspiration of the Irish peace process would be an understatement".
Fr Reid spoke harsh words to William Frazer at the October 12th meeting in Fitzroy Presbyterian Church Hall. I was shocked and embarrassed by what he said, all the more so because I realised that it would hurt people within the Protestant side of the community who have great affection for him.
It is also important to remember that Fr Reid is on record as stating that, in his view, the armed struggle which he laboured so doggedly to transform into democratic political action and even the 1916 rebellion were in themselves wrong political decisions.
Fr Alec has deep convictions about the better way to achieve political rights for everyone. He has seen enough devastation in families and communities to make him utterly convinced that political violence invariably makes everything worse. That conviction sustains him in his present effort in Spain to help bring political peace to the Basque and Spanish people, drawing on his experience of the conflict in Ireland.
In what he said during the Fitzroy meeting Fr Alec was in no way denying the unionist nightmare. He was trying to convey a sense of the nationalist nightmare and he himself apologised for the hurtful way he did it. Much of the strong emotional reaction that we felt in response to the confrontation between Fr Reid and Mr Frazer at the Fitzroy meeting was due in part to the very raw truths being exposed before us. When faced with such truths we become defensive and aggressive and lose the opportunity for respectful dialogue and thereby perpetuate the nightmare.
Through his unyielding efforts over the years of conflict to persuade the IRA to forgo the armed struggle Fr Alec has sought to end both nightmares. And many Protestant people hold him in the highest esteem because of this patient, lifelong ministry for peace.
They and we recognise that without him we would not be where we are today with regard to the peace process and the decommissioning of weapons. We want to acknowledge his role and express our deep appreciation
Twenty-two years ago, in my first conversation with Fr Alec about the violent conflict surrounding us, he said to me: "Dialogue is the only way forward here because honest dialogue opens the way for the Spirit of God to work in human history".
I wish we could acknowledge together the Nationalist nightmare and the Unionist nightmare - the terrible hurts we have done to one another. I wish there could be respectful dialogue between all parties here - and in particular between ourselves in Clonard Monastery and those who are hesitant about our witness and ministry.
To facilitate this in a practical way I invite anyone who has issues with or concerns about the ministry of Clonard Monastery to come and meet with us personally. We cannot be more open than that.
Let us pray for one another and trust in the Spirit of God who can unite Catholic and Protestant, nationalist and unionist, republican and loyalist on the building site of our peace. - Yours, etc,
GERRY REYNOLDS, CSsR,
Clonard Monastery,
Belfast.