A chara – It was a relief to read Archbishop Michael Jackson's challenge to the Church of Ireland (Opinion, October 22nd). His comments will be welcomed by many who recognise his sorry, but truthful, description of what sometimes makes the Church of Ireland an unattractive arena for those who look to Anglicanism to offer a generous, intelligent and humane vision of the Christian faith.
As an Anglican by conviction, as a priest (serving in the Church of England), who is the son of an Irish Roman Catholic father, as well as an Irish citizen, my experience of worshipping in the Church of Ireland has been, at best, inconsistent.
The persistently warm welcome I receive in Archbishop Jackson’s cathedral in Dublin, not to mention the transformative quality of the worship, is in striking contrast to the defensive and myopic partisanship I have encountered elsewhere in the 32 counties. When I come home to spend time with the family in the west of the country, I invariably accompany them to Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. The pain of not being able to receive communion is far outweighed by the graciousness with which I am welcomed by the local clergy.
The Church of Ireland is better-placed now, than at any other moment in the past 100 years, to make a significant contribution to the future cohesion of Irish society: not least by offering a lasting home to those who long for a more questioning, affirming and rooted account of the gospel.
Theological rigour, pastoral imagination, effective clerical accountability and a genuine stake in the church’s governance by the laity are all gifts to be cherished and celebrated.
The deep-seated insecurities of a minority community, which give rise to the tribal tendencies exposed by the archbishop’s timely intervention, is a warning to all of us that the church’s capacity for scandal is not exclusively confined to the abuse of the vulnerable and its associated cover-ups. – Is mise,
Revd SIMON REYNOLDS,
Upper Church Lane,
Farnham,
Surrey,
England.
Sir, – With all the recent coverage of “bling bishops” and “Polyester Protestants” one is left wondering what new adjectives will be applied to those of us who have left the churches. Maybe we are no longer the “materialist atheists” and have become the “humble humanists” or “ash-cloth atheists” (not!)? – Yours, etc,
ANDREW DOYLE,
Lislevane,
Bandon, Co Cork.
Sir, – Brian P O Cinneide (October 23rd) states that all people living in the Irish Free State during the second World War owed their allegiance to Ireland and Ireland only. This is patent nonsense.
People of German origins owed no duty to Ireland and likewise people who considered themselves British were fully entitled to support the Allied cause. While there were arguably justifiable reasons for Ireland’s neutrality during the second World War, it is self-delusional to confuse the short-term security this provided with the long-term security achieved by the ultimate success of the Allies.
As the grandson of a member of the Irish Local Security Force and the son of a member of the Royal Air Force, I have no doubt that the latter service was more beneficial to Ireland’s freedom than the former.
Having seen what a democratic German state has inflicted upon Ireland in recent times the effect of a Nazi occupation is unthinkable. We are forever in the debt of those Irishmen and women who supported the Allies in the second World War and, while some of them are still alive, it is time that the Irish government chose to represent itself at the annual commemoration at the Cenotaph in London in their honour. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN O’SULLIVAN,
Ballyraine Park,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – Archbishop Jackson is well aware that a type of sectarianism exists in the Church of Ireland. Last year he was the architect of resolution 8A which was passed at general synod. This resolution reiterated the church’s definition of marriage as “a union between a man and a woman” and was passed to specifically exclude a minority in the church, the gays. – Yours, etc,
TIM BRACKEN,
Pope’s Quay,
Cork.
Sir, – As with Louis Hemmings (October 23rd) I have never heard or encountered the phrase "Polyester Protestants" in my parish or any others that I have visited. The unfortunate aspect of this debate is that it is achieving exactly what it was presumably meant to try and heal – division. This is an issue (or non-issue) that could and should have been dealt with sensitively instead of the archbishop's indiscreet sledgehammer approach of washing our allegedly dirty polyester in public. – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SCARGILL,
Loreto Grange,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, writes that each of us "are made in the image and likeness of God" (Opinion, October 22nd). Shouldn't that statement have been written, not as a factual given, but as a belief that the writer earnestly holds? Too often (as for example in your newspaper's Thinking Anew column) religious people are given free rein to promote and describe their beliefs in the secular media – as opposed to their own religious media – as if they were unquestionable truths.
In this case, Dr Jackson believes it is a fact that there is a God and that people have been made in the image and likeness of God. I personally find such beliefs to be “unbelievable” and by their very nature unverifiable. They should never, in my opinion, be written or spoken in the secular media without the writer first clearly pointing out that they are “in fact” simply his or her personal beliefs. – Yours, etc,
IVOR SHORTS,
Hermitage Close,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Sir, – Congratulations to Archbishop Michael Jackson in highlighting sectarianism among some Protestants.
However, it seems obvious to me that this is an inevitable consequence of our denominational school system. If in two houses, the children of one go to a Catholic school, and their next door neighbours go to a Protestant one (with parents usually having to choose one or the other, whether they believe in the differences or not), then this emphasises a purposely engineered divide. It is only a small step for some families to attain the mindset that “we” are different (and better) than “them”.
The much-trumpeted Catholic or Protestant “ethos” has clearly not served us well. While the Catholic church has suffered very bad publicity recently, I expect this is because the great majority of people actually or nominally adhere to it and have little choice.
My experience is that people who have opted out of a denominational affiliation retain at least as good an “ethos” as those remaining. Of course parents should be able to arrange religious instruction for their children if they so wish. But this should be provided outside school hours, and there should be no denominational schools.
I was one of a small group which supported the redoubtable Dr Michael Johnston, who was the man responsible, under the then title “Dalkey School Project’, for the setting up of what has become “Educate Together”. Progress has been impressive since, but it is a slow business.
If both Dublin archbishops could stop championing “their” schools, and allow a faster development of “schools for all”, this would surely discourage the sectarianism which Archbishop Jackson has highlighted, and which I also have observed. – Yours, etc,
CHARLES MOLLAN,
Newtownpark Avenue,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.