The Catholic Primate of All Ireland has urged the newly elected
Government and the leaders of NI’s Executive to prioritise the
establishment of new structures to facilitate formal dialogue between
the major faith traditions and the political establishment.
In his address at the Abrahamic Religions Dinner in Belfast
Castle on Thursday evening, Cardinal Seán Brady also called on political
and religious leaders to make a joint approach to the UN.
What he
proposed was a venture which would seek to promote dialogue between
political and religious leaders at an international level in an effort
to foster peace and the well-being of humanity.
Speaking on the theme Why dialogue in today’s world in a
discussion organised by the Northern Ireland Dialogue Society, Cardinal
Brady said people needed opportunities to share their beliefs and
insights in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual concern for the whole
human family.
Welcoming the announcement that Queen Elizabeth II had accepted the
invitation of President McAleese to visit Ireland, the Archbishop of
Armagh said it would be “an important religious and civic event.”
He
added that he was conscious of the “very warm and gracious welcome
offered by Her Majesty to Pope Benedict XVI on his recent visit to
Scotland and England.”
“I welcome the visit of Queen Elizabeth as a mark of the mutual
respect that exists between our two countries and also of the deep bonds
of friendship between the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church on
this island at this time”, Cardinal Brady told the gathering at Belfast
Castle.
He added that the experience of inter-Church dialogue in Ireland had a
wider significance for conflicts involving religious as well as
historical-political dimensions.
The leader of the Church in Ireland
warned that differences of religion “must not be a cause of conflict”
and added, “Peace needs dialogue. It cannot happen without dialogue.”
Basing his observations in the local context, Cardinal Brady said
that the people of Northern Ireland knew only too well the hope that can
be born of dialogue.
“That is why I am delighted to see some of the
members of our Legislative Assembly here this evening. The fact that we
have a devolved Assembly up and running in Northern Ireland is
testimony to the progress and stability that can come from dialogue,” he
said.
Saying he believed religious leaders, by and large, played their part
in promoting dialogue in Northern Ireland, he said this was especially
so during the times when politicians and others found it difficult to
engage with one another.
There were also religious leaders from different denominations who
engaged in both public and behind the scenes mediation and bridge
building, the Cardinal said.
“I believe history will show that this involvement by church people
played a critical part in achieving political agreement and support for
that agreement in the wider community,” Cardinal Brady suggested.
Saying he found it significant that the beginning of the Troubles
coincided with a period of unprecedented progress in inter-Church
dialogue at an international level post Vatican II, the Cardinal noted
that in Ireland, this gave rise to initiatives such as Corrymeela and
the Ballymascanlon talks, which later became the Irish Inter-Church
Meeting.
“A brief look back at some of the statements and joint position
papers of that inter-Church dialogue during the early years of the
Troubles shows that the language of forgiveness, reconciliation,
empathy, mutual understanding and respect were already the dominant
themes.”
Furthermore, Cardinal Brady said he would argue that a document such as Violence in Ireland: A Report to the Churches which was produced in 1977 already contained the vocabulary and political principles of the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement.
Referring to Jeremiah 29:1, the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh said,
“God has something to say to us all about who we are, why we are here
and what we ought to do at this critical moment in the history of the
world!”
These, he said were plans for our collective good and that was
why he believed the most urgent challenge for people of faith today is
to discern God’s plan for our times.
The Gospel, the Tanak, the Qur'an are all books of peace, Cardinal
Brady told the members of the various faith traditions gathered in
Belfast Castle to discuss the theme Why Dialogue in Today’s World.
“They contain a patrimony of religious and human values that are as
relevant now for the peace and well-being of humanity as they have ever
been.”
“I believe it is only by dialoguing together, by respectfully
acknowledging the action of God in our respective traditions, that we
can offer the world a future and a hope,” Cardinal Brady said.
Other speakers at the event included Archbishop Alan Harper OBE,
Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh; Rev. Dr Donald Kerr, General
Secretary of the Methodist Church; and Kerim Balci, Theologian/columnist
from the Muslim Community.