In the first of a series of blog articles, Dr Fergus O’Ferrall makes the case for a new and fundamental ecumenical reformation in, and by, our Churches focused on concepts such as reconciliation, forgiveness, justice, peace and human flourishing as we seek to break the bondage to the past and to create hope for a shared and flourishing future.
The current situation
It was a privilege to be invited to address the Omagh Churches’ Forum particularly in this year when we are marking the 20th Anniversary of the bombing in Omagh on 15th August 1998. The Forum has been very important part of the response to that criminal terrorist attack on innocent people. David Bolton in his very important book, Conflict, Peace and Mental Health Addressing the Consequences of Conflict and Trauma in Northern Ireland, (Manchester, 2017) notes that the Forum “played a significant part in commenting on the tragedy and its impact and in assisting the community in marking it in different ways, chiefly through the funerals in the days after the bombing and through major acts of worship.” He notes the importance of the fact that the Forum had been in place prior to the bombing and so had created a valuable set of relationships across the Christian denominations; thus, he observes, that the Churches “formed a key part of the response and leadership, providing, for example, pastoral support for families and congregations, and valuable reflections on the personal and collective tragedy, as well as modelling how the community and its various organisations and institutions might respond.”
The continuing grave and unresolved situation on the island of Ireland calls all who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour to a costly ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor.5:18). Twenty years after the Belfast Agreement, reached on Good Friday, 10 April 1998, there remains a clear sectarian division in Northern Ireland – with largely Catholics on one side and largely Protestants on the other– this division is reflected in voting patterns for both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party as well as for some other political parties. The result is stalemate in the governance of Northern Ireland; this continues to alienate many people from politics and to increase acrimony in public life. A further consequence is a lack of democratic decision–making across a whole range of matters vital to the well–being of the people living in Northern Ireland. The Brexit process now underway, resulting from the 2016 Referendum in the United Kingdom, has compounded an already very difficult and fraught context in Ireland in respect of the principles, values and hopes embodied in the Belfast Agreement of 1998 and further elaborated in the 2006 St. Andrews Agreement and in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement.
Brexit, a unilateral decision by the United Kingdom, presents a very serious threat to the economic life of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The British–Irish Agreement that is based upon the Belfast Agreement, and which is an internationally recognised treaty, was made by ‘partners in the European Union’: this partnership facilitated and supported the historic Belfast Agreement as endorsed by referenda in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. Brexit has damaged very seriously the new accord which had been developed between the United Kingdom and Ireland and which was reflected in the State visits by the Queen to Ireland and by President Higgins to the United Kingdom. It has the potential to do a great deal of further damage and harm to all the people on this island.
The legacy of the decades of violence from 1968 to 1998, and indeed later, remains unaddressed: a population of about 1.7 million people has an estimated 30 per cent of people living in Northern Ireland who were directly affected –3720 people were killed between 1969 and 2006 and about 500,000 people bereaved, injured or who incurred suffering. The extent of the pain, trauma, anger, and victimhood which lies barely under the surface of everyday life in Northern Ireland must be acknowledged: dealing with this legacy remains a core concern for those who desire a better future for all people in Northern Ireland. The hurt and trauma continues to require great pastoral concern from the Churches. As we are aware, there is another consultation underway initiated by the Northern Ireland Office on possible structures to deal more effectively with the legacy issues of the conflict, which is due to close shortly and we await decisions in respect of this initiative.
The Churches are part of the problem in breaking the bondage to the past!
The history of Irish Christianity, in all of its denominational expressions, has resulted in a deeply embedded sectarianism– one which has greatly contributed to the formation of our political identities. So as we explore reconciliation in Ireland we must address how the Churches have fostered sectarian attitudes since the sixteenth–century. Sectarianism has been given a working definition as “a complex of attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and structures in which religion is a significant component and which (i) directly, or indirectly, infringes the rights of individuals or groups and/or (ii) influences or causes situations of destructive conflict.” [The Report of the Working Party on Sectarianism A Discussion Document for Presentation to the Irish Inter–Church Meeting (Irish Inter–Church Meeting, Belfast, 1993) p.8.]
It is important to note that the Irish Churches are not exceptional in a world context in being associated with violence, extremism and bigotry. In the twentieth–century it was often assumed that religion would become ever more marginal to political life and to conflicts. Research, however, such as The Future of World Religions Report (Pew Research Centre: Populations Growth Projections, 2010–2050, updated to 2060– www.pew.forum.org ), shows an increasing religious affiliation accompanied by a re–politicisation of religion: this includes a rise of religious fundamentalism across all the major world religions giving rise to conflict and violence. It is clear that religion plays many different roles in political conflicts: it may function as a proxy for ethnic, cultural or economic wrongs (real or imagined) or it may be one factor amidst a range of historic grievances, or religion may be itself a cause of conflict. Often religious factors may become so entangled with other aspects of conflict that must also be addressed if there is to be a sustainable peace. As we struggle to shape a reconciled and shared future for all people on this island it is important to learn from progress with reconciliation processes elsewhere and to realise that we in Ireland might also make a significant contribution to the resolution of conflicts abroad if we can successfully navigate reconciliation on this island.
In 1973 Bishop Richard Hanson stated: “All the major denominations in Northern Ireland: Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Church of Ireland and Methodists… are captive Churches. They long ago sold their integrity and spiritual and intellectual independence to political ideologies in return for the massive support of the people of Northern Ireland.” [The Guardian, 14 September, 1973, quoted in Maria Power in her essay ‘Providing a Prophetic Voice? Churches and Peacebuilding, 1968–2005’ in Building Peace in Northern Ireland, ed. Maria Power, (Liverpool, 2011)] Marianne Elliott entitled her book, When God Took Sides Religion and Identity in Ireland – Unfinished History (Oxford, 2009); Former Archbishop Robin Eames entitled his book on Northern Ireland, Unfinished Search (Dublin,2017). I wish to suggest that the Irish Churches are facing a major moment of choice as to how this ‘unfinished’ history and ‘search’ for peace concludes: they may continue as ‘captive Churches’ or they may be faithful to their Christ–given ministry of reconciliation. If they choose to be faithful this will require a new, costly and radical reformation as they seek together to become the Church of Jesus Christ bringing the Good News to all people.
On Sunday 8th October, 2017, Archbishop Eamon Martin spoke in the Church of Ireland St.Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh on ‘Reconciling the Reformation’. He stressed the importance of reconciliation between the Christian Churches observing that people who look upon the Churches from the outside “particularly on this island, see a history of division and sectarianism, of intolerance, mutual recriminations, and open hostility within the Christian family.” This he remarked is “a source of scandal” and he argued that we need to move “from conflict to greater communion together bringing the joy of the Gospel into our troubled world.”
These posts are based on an address delivered to the Omagh Churches’ Forum on 19th September 2018.
Dr. Fergus O’Ferrall was Lay Leader of the Methodist Church in Ireland, 2016–2018; he is involved in the ‘coalition of hope’ group that produced ‘A Dialogue of Hope Critical Thinking for Critical Times’, ed. Gerry O’Hanlon, SJ, Dublin, 2017. He has written books and articles on public policy and Irish history: he edited and contributed to ‘Towards a Flourishing Society’, TASC, Dublin, 2012. His books on Irish history include ‘Catholic Emancipation Daniel O’Connell’ and the ‘Birth of Irish Democracy 1820 –30’, Dublin, 1985. He is a Governor of The Irish Times and has contributed articles to journals such as The Dublin Review of Books, www.drb.ie : recent essays, ‘Step Back, Make Space’ and ‘Towards a Coalition of Hope’ in The Dublin Review of Books, June & July 2018, expand on some of the themes in this Address.
