If issues of disagreement between the Church of Ireland and the Orange Order cannot be resolved by discussion, there needs to be a parting of the ways, according to a church pressure group. Facing up fearlessly to sectarianism may mean that the church loses members, it adds.
The Belfast-based group Catalyst has just published a pamphlet examining the attitude of the Synod of the Church of Ireland to three issues with a bearing on sectarian division: the 39 Articles of Religion, political unionism and the Orange Order.
The authors are critical of the way in which the Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, addressed the issue of the Orange Order in the context of the events at Drumcree Church.
They quote his address to the 1997 Synod in which he described the "connection" between the Church of Ireland and the Order as "membership of the Order by members of the Church of Ireland". This was "curiously incomplete", they write.
The archbishop also said: "In the support of reformed Protestantism there is contained in the constitution of the Order reference to the Roman Catholic tradition. Such prohibitions as to contact with that tradition have led to the charge of sectarianism."
This "scarcely does the matter justice", they write. They quote the Orange Order constitution, which urges Orangemen to "strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome", avoid any "act or ceremony of Popish worship" and "resist the ascendancy of that church."
It is vitally important to distinguish between the Order as an organisation and individual members, they say. If it describes itself as "a religious political organisation", and holds tenets that are explicitly at odds with the ecumenical position of the church, "then how can the church avoid addressing these blatant contradictions? If they cannot be resolved by discussion then there needs to be a parting of the ways."
They advocate a reappraisal of the 39 Articles of Religion, to which Church of Ireland clergy have to assent, pointing out that clergy in the Church of England do not. The language of these articles is deeply offensive to Roman Catholics, according to the pamphlet. "Northern Ireland is still inspired by theologically inspired hatred. There may be people whose minds will be so possessed by such formulations that their defence justifies any action, including discrimination, violence and persecution."
The pamphlet examines the attitude of the church, as revealed in the Journal of the Synod, to various political developments over the years. They quote its comment on the Green Paper on The Future of Northern Ireland with its provision "that there was no suspicion of any agreement or intent on a united Ireland.
"Sadly, many of the excerpts," they write, "are expressed in such a general, vague or oblique way that they convey the impression of a pervasive and enervating ambivalence. At best mixed and unclear messages emerge; some have a unionist shade and read as if written by a sympathetic political rather than church commentator; others . . . speak movingly of or imply the need to be a `servant church'."
They urge the archbishops and bishops to unite to tackle sectarianism in the church and devote sufficient resources to it.