The Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Sean Brady, has called for recognition of the progress made in police reform in the North but has not advised Catholics on joining the new police service.
In a homily in Co Louth yesterday Dr Brady said a representative and acceptable police service in the North was a major element in the peace process.
Dr Brady said the Patten Report on reform of policing in Northern Ireland had made an important contribution to the peace process, and the British government's Police Bill was "another step hopefully on the way to an acceptable situation".
"While there are a number of problems still unresolved, the progress already made must be recognised and acknowledged," he said.
"That progress was made through negotiation and discussions. Those discussions must continue because important elements of the Patten report have yet to be implemented.
"They are of such fundamental importance to the provision of the sort of police service that is going to work and so essential to the future well-being of the whole community that they must be addressed. The legislators need the support of all as they struggle to achieve the provision of a new police service that will be acceptable to all," he said.
Last week Mr Maurice Hayes, the only Northern Catholic on the Patten commission, and Mgr Denis Faul said Catholics should join.
Dr Brady said the role played by the police and armed services in society was an important one. "The fair and impartial administration of justice defends people from injustice, vandalism and crime; it lays the basis for lasting peace," he said.
The archbishop described the decision of a British army board to allow two Scots Guardsmen to remain in the army, despite their having been found guilty of killing a Catholic man, as "a cause of great concern and disappointment". He said the police and armed services needed the help of the community to enable them to do their job of protecting it against the threat of criminals.
Dr Brady also called for more to be done about the decommissioning of illegally held arms.
"That issue is also of fundamental importance in the process of generating confidence and building trust. It is also part of the new beginning," he said.
The archbishop called for all acts of politically motivated violence to stop. "All who seek peace must be resolute in their conviction that violence is unacceptable as a means of resolving conflict," he said.
"Bombings, shootings, punishment beatings, expulsions, acts of violence and intimidation must be seen and condemned for what they are, criminal injustices towards victims and a serious threat to the security and stability of society.
"The fact that they continue underlines the fragile nature of the agreement that has been reached and the constant need for that agreement to be upheld and consolidated," he said.