Christian churches in the North have become trapped in the sectarian divide and have lost sight of their mission to the worshipping community, according to the theologian Prof Enda McDonagh.
Speaking in Belfast yesterday at a meeting of the Irish Association, Dr McDonagh, an emeritus professor of theology at NUI Maynooth, urged Protestant churches to "slip the nets" of the Orange Order and in turn called on the Catholic Church to advocate integrated education.
"If the [Catholic] Church made an announcement that it is in favour of inter-church schooling as a way of promoting the Christian message in society then I think that would have a huge impact symbolically," Dr McDonagh said.
The official links between the Protestant churches and the Loyal Order should be broken. "Drumcree has brought this to a head for many people. But it is not just because of the scandal of Drumcree, but also because of the corrosive effect within the Protestant churches which the affiliation with the Orange Order is having."
Addressing an audience at the Ulster Museum, Dr McDonagh, warned that if Christians in Ireland "stay within our little prisons we will fade away, and the peace and prosperity will not need us".
"I'm trying to appeal to both traditions that they have to make sacrifices of the institutional frameworks and certain allegiances if they are to become clear as Christian communities," he said.
The model of priesthood as created by Jesus Christ who "entered into the depths of humanity even to point of death and shed all" was not followed today. "We do not find people who are willing to surrender, to let go in the fashion of Jesus Christ." Church leaders must let go of power however painful it might be, he added.