The modern ecumenical movement is generally dated to
the Protestant Edinburgh International Missionary Conference of 1910,
but it took on a new lease of life when it was espoused by Pope John
XXIII and the Second Vatican Council.
There had,
of course, been relationships between the Irish Churches for many years
prior to the holding of Vatican II, mainly through the agency of the
Irish Council of Churches, founded in 1923, and of which the Church of
Ireland was a founding member.
The council was in
origin a body of Protestant Churches, the Russian and Romanian Orthodox
having joined in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
Vatican II, however, held out the prospect
of more than simply cooperation between churches, but of an aspiration
to unity, and while there have, indeed, been “conversations” between
several Protestant Churches with a view to unity (the Church of Ireland
and the Methodist Church in Ireland are in a covenant relationship to
that end) that is not the role of the Irish Council of Churches.
The
Church of Ireland has also been involved in the work of Anglican-Roman
Catholic International Commissions, the first of which was co-chaired by
the then bishop of Ossory, later to be archbishop of Dublin, HR McAdoo.
Ecumenism was only one of the concerns of
Vatican II, which also made great changes in Roman Catholic forms of
worship, introducing use of the vernacular, for instance.
Such changes,
together with a positive attitude on the part of the Vatican to shared
worship among Christians, evoked a strong reaction from many Irish
Christians, who welcomed the opportunity to join in worship together.
Regular meetings
An early and far-reaching ecumenical development was the holding of regular meetings between representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of the Irish Council of Churches.
First held at the Ballymascanlon
Hotel, near Dundalk, half-way between Dublin and Belfast, these talks
gave rise to a formal ecumenical instrument that addresses theological
and social issues of common concern to all Churches.
It
can be said with confidence that the forming of relationships, both
institutional and personal, that stemmed from closer ecumenical contacts
greatly facilitated the opportunities for pastoral work that came with
the “Troubles”.
Not, of course, that ecumenical
activity found favour with all churches, or, indeed, with all members of
some churches. But the Church of Ireland and its leaders have never,
sometimes at cost to themselves, diverged from their ecumenical
commitment.
Acknowledging that from some points
of view the churches themselves have been part of Ireland’s
inter-community problems, the Church of Ireland took a series of steps
to ascertain what its own responsibilities might be and what positive
contribution might be made to making atonement where this was due.
In
1997, as a starting point, the General Synod firmly declared its
rejection of sectarianism, and set in train a process of
self-examination to determine how “. . . to promote, at all levels of
church life, tolerance, dialogue and mutual respect between the churches
and society”.
Sexuality and gender
By now, however, it was becoming clear that the “differences” that so often evoked sentiments of prejudice were not confined to those between churches, but also, to quote an officially commissioned report, encompassed minority ethnic groups, people of other religions and issues of sexuality and gender.
The educational process
designed to combat sectarianism and also the prejudices directed
against those who fall into these other categories, is an ongoing
one.The Church of Ireland established the Hard Gospel Project in 2005 to
tackle sectarianism and racism and to face the challenges of historic
difference in the Ireland of the 21st century.
Opportunity
as well as challenge arises for the Church of Ireland, and all other
Christian churches, in addressing two profound questions: how should we
as a Christian church regard ourselves and our role in a rapidly
changing, multifaith and multicultural 21st-century Ireland (north and
south)?; how should we as individuals in the context of 21st-century
Ireland (north and south) regard ourselves and our responsibilities?
The
Hard Gospel Project represents a commitment by the Church of Ireland to
examine not only the challenges of faith which arise for Christians in
the “vertical” relationship in loving God but also the practical
implications for the outworking of faith in “horizontal” relationships
as expressed in Christ’s command to “love your neighbour”.