PATIENCE and humility might be required because the Church in Ireland navigates the choppy waters of Irish and global politics in 2024, the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd John McDowell, has told the General Synod.
In his first synodical address, in 2020, the Archbishop said that he had committed himself to a path of reconciliation: with each other within the Church, with creation, and in wider society. “Reconciliation is a present given to us by God, and additionally it is a vocation, as we work out what it means in every elements of our lives.”
He lamented that the world was not at peace or reconciled. Many regions were experiencing darkness, including Yemen, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Sudan. The Church must not forget these people and places, even after they slipped from the headlines within the media.
Church leaders weren’t political representatives, and nor should they be, he said said. The political affiliation of Church of Ireland people was “none of my business”. There was a tragic history of church entanglement with politics within the history of Ireland which had “cheapened the gospel” and made people suspicious of the Church.
The way for the Church have to be the decision to self-sacrificial love: not a “vague warm feeling, or an intense romantic passion”, but good will towards neighbours and courageous opposition to hatred. When faced with complex moral or theological matters, the Church needs to be slow to intervene in any respect. If it was right to talk into it, then the approach had been to research, debate, and discuss it fastidiously and collectively across the island.
CHURCH OF IRELANDThe Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd John McDowell, chairs proceedings from Armagh online
“The cohesion and unity of the Church of Ireland since disestablishment has only been achieved through this patient wrestling over time, avoiding simplistic answers to difficult questions,” he said. This was how the Church had come to allow women’s ordination, and the way it had been unable to seek out consensus on other issues, reminiscent of communion for kids.
“What now we have learned in our parishes and this General Synod should provide us with the antennae to detect language which demeans or diminishes human beings,” especially when it got here to fearful or divisive politics beyond the Church, the Archbishop said. This form of “twiddling with paranoia” was the work of populists, whether of the Left or Right; however the Church could also change into infected by it
Populist politicians, activists, and commentators exploited the complexity of the challenges for Ireland, offering nothing but slogans reminiscent of “Ireland is full.” “North and south, now we have been right to welcome asylum-seekers and migrants,” he insisted, although perhaps more thought must have been given to learn how to integrate these newcomers.
“We are at a crucial moment, not only in Irish history, but in world history,” he suggested. History was not something solely to be endured, but how people could conscientiously make the world a greater place. Many things would must change, but church people must seek to preserve their values through it on this “hinge point in history”.
Who could carry this moment alone? No one, the Archbishop said; but, thankfully, Christians weren’t called to do that alone. The gift of the Holy Spirit got here when the Early Church was gathered together in a single place, all together, just because the Church of Ireland was now gathered on the Synod. He reported how he had joined other Anglican Primates in a gathering with Pope Francis in Rome a number of weeks ago. The Pope had spoken of the primacy of the Spirit and the decision to hope together. “May we discover full communion with each other, as we seek closer communion with God.”
