Fermanagh could hold the key to the decision making of the
G8 leaders, the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. Dr. John Sentamu
predicted, speaking at a major service in Enniskillen on Sunday last. The IF campaign is a coalition of over 200 organisations across the UK and Ireland called on the G8 leaders to take action to tackle some of the root causes of poverty.
Taking out five brown batch loaves, he distributed them to the congregation to be shared among everyone in a gesture that ordinary people can make a difference to their neighbours.
He then revealed his plan for shoppers when paying for their groceries at their local supermarket or shop, to pay an extra £1 on a rewards card with the money going to a global food fund which could be distributed to countries where harvests fail because of drought.
Afterwards at a press conference, when asked if there was a mechanism for this, he said this was the first time for this to be launched and he said Enniskillen would be the place where it all began.
"I hope that 2013 will be the year that goes down in the history books as the one where Enniskillen hosted the decisions that would mean that children all over the world, whatever their nationality or ethnicity, could grow up well fed, healthy and able to build their own future. It is our moral responsibility to pray, campaign and work together to ensure our leaders understand that all deserve justice regardless of international boundaries.
Preaching at a very moving and uplifting service, the Archbishop began by reminding them of his time as a child in Uganda. When he was five, there was a serious drought which hit his village and because they were a family of 10, it was struggle to find enough food for all their hungry mouths. Each time they had a meal, they would pray but when it was his turn, his father asked him to pray after their meal. He said after they had a plate of just a few small potatoes and little else, he said in front of his family, "Dear God, thank you for the food but I would have been thankful for a little bit more to eat. Amen."
He told the 700-strong congregation, "A quiet and momentous change is happening, enough is enough. We are at the tipping point and yours could be the generation to see everyone has enough to eat."
He outlined how one in eight people would go to bed hungry every night and that three million children die from malnutrition each year or one child died every 10 seconds.
"This is a scandal on our conscience," he said, asking the congregation to join him to count to 10 after which he told them that one child had just died in that moment.
He referred to the ideals set by Nelson Mandela and referred to the big changes he would like the G8 Summit to address; stop tax evasion, stop land grabbing and be more transparent.
"If we can persuade big companies to be more transparent, we would see world hunger a thing of the past," he said.
During the service, an ensemble from the Ulster Orchestra accompanied The Priests as they performed You Raise Me Up and Dave Thomas, Chairman of the IF Campaign Northern Ireland, interviewed the Rev. Suzanne Matale, a Christian Aid partner and General Secretary of the Zambian Council of Churches and Mr. Sudarshan Sathianathan, Tearfund's Head of Region for Asia about life for people in Bangladesh and Zambia.
The scripture reading was by Cliff Onega who works for Trocaire in Uganda and who met his spiritual leader, the Archbishop of York after the service.
Glenn Moore was organist and Jayne Haslett conducted the choir.
A welcome was given by the clergy from the four Enniskillen churches; Dean Kenny Hall, St. Macartin's Cathedra; Canon Peter O'Reilly, St. Michael's Church; Rev. David Cupples, Presbyterian Church and Rev. Kenneth Lindsay, former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland.
At the end of the service, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, the Right Rev. John McDowell; the Most Rev. Liam MacDaid, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher; the Right Rev. Robert Craig, Moderator, Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Kenneth Lindsay, gave the blessing.
There was a great response from people attending the service. Raymond and Pearl Bell were among those in the congregation.
Pearl said, "It was so uplifting, very meaningful and cheerful. There was a great message in a simple way The Archbishop gets everyone interacting. Hopefully the G8 leaders will listen to it. There was a sense of peace with the interdenominational aspect."
Among the many aid agencies represented was Fermanagh woman, Eithne McNulty who is Trocaire's NI Director, said after the service
"It was wonderful and I think it's incumbent on us to keep the type of pressure that the Archbishop referrred to on the G8 leaders to alleviate poverty."
Eithne has just returned from India where she visited the poorest region and saw how people were struggling.