Church leaders express great concern for ‘fragile peace on this island’

Noting that 2023 will mark the Belfast Agreement’s 25th anniversary, Ireland’s five main church leaders have said it “comes at a time when we have great concern for the state of our fragile peace on this island and we are more aware than ever that the work of peace is unfinished”.

The agreement “transformed the conflict in Northern Ireland, resulting in countless lives being saved. We know that so many continue to live with the pain and trauma inflicted on them and we also recognise that the agreement came at a high price for many, for whom the release of prisoners was, and still is, particularly painful,” they said.

As leaders in their respective Christian traditions, they said in a joint statement, “We recommit ourselves to continue our work towards a vision of an island of restored relationships, where all can flourish and fully participate in our common life.”

The leaders concerned are Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin, Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop John McDowell, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Rev Dr John Kirkpatrick, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland Rev David Nixon and President of the Irish Council of Churches Rev Andrew Forster.

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Fleeing conflict

They commended “an extraordinary compassionate and practical response on our island, north and south, to welcoming and meeting the needs of those who arrived here” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, but pointed to how “this has also challenged us all as to our attitudes towards people who have had to flee conflict in other parts of the world. The compassion and care that Christ calls us to offer to the stranger in our midst cannot be conditional on their country of origin or indeed the colour of their skin.”

On this island an increasing cost of living was “exacerbating the scandal of homelessness”, meaning that “many who have a home find themselves unable to afford to heat it during the cold weather. This simply should not be the case in countries of great wealth, and shows the urgent need for a refocusing of government policies in both jurisdictions to deliver real and meaningful social justice and eliminate poverty across this island,” they said.

At a Mass marking World Day of Peace in Armagh Cathedral on Sunday morning, Archbishop Eamon Martin remembered Private Sean Rooney, the Irish UN peacekeeper whose funeral took place in Dundalk just before Christmas. He also prayed for Private Shane Kearney and the other members of the Defence Forces 121st Infantry Battalion who were injured in south Lebanon that same day last month.

“Some people are prepared to make personal sacrifices and take heroic risks for peace; in Private Sean Rooney’s case, he made the ultimate sacrifice – giving his life to protect the safety of others. It is worth asking ourselves today: what am I prepared to do in the cause of peace – at home; in my workplace and community; in my country and in the world?” Archbishop Martin asked.

‘Grotesque war’

At the Pro Cathedral in Dublin, Archbishop Dermot Farrell said “the grotesque war in Ukraine, and its blatant disregard for human life, the integrity of creation and international law, is causing indescribable suffering”. This time last year, where the people of Ukraine were concerned, “little did they know that, within weeks, their world would be shattered by a cynical war, a war that continues today in the deadly cold of winter”, he said.

The archbishop reflected on events in Ireland100 years ago. “A century ago, here in Dublin, this city, these very streets, were in the midst of a bitter civil war, one that sundered families and sowed lasting hatreds among former friends and comrades. The effects of shelling were evident all around this cathedral. Those animosities survived the return of peace in 1923, and we know only too well how frequently and how easily they resurfaced in the century since.”

These days “we are especially mindful of those who are at war with their addictions, those whose struggles so often erupt into violence in the streets surrounding the Pro-Cathedral,” he said. ”Peace demands constant work, constant vigilance. Building peace is a reality into which we must insert ourselves. Peace is a gift, but the work is ours,” he said.

“As the experience of civil war and civil war politics have taught us over the past century, peace is constant vigilance and continual effort to build the just society that is the only sure foundation of real concord,” he said.