TUESDAY'S NEWS
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The President of the General Synod,
Archbishop Eames, opened this year’s Synod session with an
address on the theme of ‘power and powerlessness’, two words which
warranted an urgent Christian consideration in the light of both
global and local events during the past year.
Speaking of the war in Iraq, Archbishop Eames told his listeners that a
‘new world order’ had been born where powerlessness and the
exercise of power were important ingredients. Theories of ‘just
war’, said the Primate, had “not stood the test of history”, and
he remained “convinced that those who wage war, whatever the
justification, carry the equal responsibility to engage in
humanitarian action”. |
Exhorting the Church of Ireland to call
on the governments of Britain and Ireland to “devote a definite and
realistic percentage of national wealth to world development as a
constant and normal element of national expenditure”, the Primate
wondered whether “direct taxation should reflect a permanent
contribution to national aid for the poor of the world”. This issue,
he said, was “about the use of national wealth” and the time to
respond was now. Issues of power also
manifested themselves in the growing debate on sustainability of the
world. This was a matter of ethical and moral dimensions to do with
the natural environment, but was also about “the political realities
of power in a world divided between those who have and those who
have not”. Referring to the Church as one of the last social places
able to be “resistant to materialism”, Archbishop Eames called for a “deep
spiritual and ethical vision” in the face of human greed and
self-advancement in all their forms. Top
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A
further area where power and powerlessness played a part was the
peace process in Northern Ireland, where the failure to restore
devolved government was a set-back to the political element of the
road to peace. But it was only a set-back, the Primate said, and
political progress was “only a part” of the peace process. The real
power to build a just and peaceful society, he told his listeners,
rested “with people in their lives, in their homes, in their work,
in their relationships and in their attitudes”.
Many people, said Archbishop Eames, felt “a lack of relevance for their lives
in high-level political dialogue” but were finding new ways to
exercise ‘people power’ in “local bridge-building, hands of
friendship unimagined a few years ago, new local community
initiatives and a new awareness of the power of individual and
collective memories”. Singled out for
particular acknowledgement was the support of the International Fund
for Ireland in funding a new Scoping Study on sectarianism in
Ireland, to be presented to the General Synod this year. The Church
of Ireland, said the Primate, had “begun a profound and extensive
examination of sectarianism” within its structures and attitudes,
and must now “recognise the power to change and to respond to the
call of ‘the hard Gospel’”. Top
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The final
aspect of Church of Ireland life focussed on was the pastoral
ministry, an area which the Church’s structures must, the Archbishop said,
“be the servant of the ethos we have inherited, not the master”.
Addressing the Synod as the supreme law-making body of the Church,
he told members that the exercise of authority was “about the nature
of power”. Focussing particularly on
sexuality, the Primate told his listeners that issues of sexuality
had been “on the agenda of the House of Bishops for many years” and
it was increasingly clear that there was “a variety of responses to
these issues among church members”. It
was important to recognise, he said, that “power and authority must
be exercised with genuine sensitivity to the feelings of other
people” and this meant engaging in “open discussion” which would not
lead to the emergence of a “Church-dividing issue”. The Bishops
hoped to complete a paper on the subject of sexuality for the Church
of Ireland to discuss at different levels, in the belief that the
Church would be led “to make wise and compassionate decisions deeply
rooted in the faith of Jesus Christ”.
The Primate ended his speech by reminding Synod members that “the
Gospel imperative must be the centre of our work as a Synod but it
must also be at the centre of our life, worship and witness as a
Church”. He commended to the Synod his prayer that, following the
apparent powerlessness of the Christ of Good Friday, “we must move
forward together with the real power of the Christ of Easter
morning”. Top
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