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For him, the Christian values at the heart of the faith are love, acceptance and inclusion. And after 42 years in ministry, he has come to believe that survival of the church depends on returning to what he sees as the heart of Christianity itself.
“I think the church will die unless it opens up and begins to self-examine,” he said.
Founded almost a thousand years ago, Christ Church Cathedral has long held “the advancement of religion” as one of its core missions.
Yet that mission, in Rev Dunne’s view, only has meaning if the church is willing to open itself up and look honestly at the world around it.
If you walk past the church during the month of June, you will see an LGBTQ+ Pride flag flying outside, alongside a rainbow sign saying “everyone is welcome”.
Rev Dunne is forthright in his support for Pride.
“What Christian values is it going against? Because in my book, the main Christian value that I’m promoting is that of love, acceptance and inclusion.
“The scripture is informed by reality and by societal change.
“And therefore, as society moves, as it grows in understanding of the human person and the make-up of the human person, the faith of the church or the dogma of the church or what the church believes in needs to move with that.”
Rev Dunne is coming to the end of his 18-year stint as dean, and one of his last official duties in the role will be to lead the cathedral’s Pride service on Thursday.
It’s a fitting moment for Rev Dunne, who has spent the 42 years since his ordination, including his earlier years as a Roman Catholic priest, championing social justice.
However, it’s also a position that has left him open to criticism from more conservative voices.
Last year, the decision to invite Dr Bonnie Perry, a bishop from Michigan, in the US, who is in a same-sex marriage, to speak at the cathedral’s Pride service was criticised by the bishop of Down and Dromore.
Asked if he might be described as a radical, Rev Dunne said: “Wouldn’t you say that Jesus was radical?
“Yes, I’m radical, yes, my faith is radical, because it needs to be radical. Because my faith is about empowering and my ministry is about empowering – as in empowering people who are feeling flattened, marginalised and cornered to be liberated.”
For Matty Zaradich, a board member of Christ Church who is a devout Christian and a gay man, Rev Dunne’s message makes him feel welcome in the Church of Ireland.
“My faith and my identity are completely compatible because I’ve been created by a God who doesn’t create junk. I’ve been marvellously made in God’s own image,” he said.
He was in London recently and saw a Pride flag outside the historic St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, which overlooks Trafalgar Square.
“It’s one of the most historic churches in Christendom and I saw that and I thought, isn’t that amazing, that here at Ireland’s oldest cathedral, the Christ Church, we’re doing the exact same thing and we’re not making any statement beyond ‘you’re welcome here’.”
Despite Christ Church’s Pride events this month and the dean’s outward support for the community, the Church of Ireland does not permit same-sex marriage.
The Church of Ireland’s doctrine defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
“It really frustrates me,” Rev Dunne said. “I have to be bound by the church, but I would be a big promoter of same-sex marriage.”
He recounted a story from a friend of his, who was asked if he celebrates same-sex marriages.
“And his reply was, ‘I just celebrate marriage’. There should be no distinction. It should be the norm that anyone who wants to get married, who’s in love, should be allowed to get married in the eyes of God.”
Mr Zaradich said he is hoping for change within the church on the issue but it can get tiring.
“When you grow up LGBT or queer, you grow up with all these terrible things that you hear about yourself, and it affects you deeply,” he said.
He added it’s important to remember that LGBTQ+ people “have dignity, that we have worth, that we have value, and that we have meaning that is intrinsic to us. No one has to give it to us”.