WEDNESDAY'S NEWS

The Church in Society Committee - news report
(from Elaine Whitehouse, Communications Dept, RCB)

The Church in Society Committee this year presented its first annual report to the Standing Committee of the General Synod. The Committee, which encompasses sub-committees dedicated to medical ethics, science and technology, legislation and politics, social justice and theology, ecology and environment and European affairs, was set up in 2001 to “identify, contribute to, challenge and develop areas of living today where the mission of the church can be active and the love of God shared”.

The sub-committees had dealt with a wide range of issues during the past year and their reports outlined the main subjects of their deliberations.

The Ecological and Environmental Sub-Committee aimed to raise environmental awareness throughout the broader Church and was currently exploring the possibilities for producing information and guidelines for parishes to help them undertake environmental audits. The Committee was also looking into the possible introduction throughout the Church of Ireland of Eco-Congregation schemes like the one currently in place in St Molua’s Parish in Stormont.

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The European Affairs Group’s report focussed on the Common Agricultural Policy and expressed concerns about the implications of the current review of the workings of the CAP. The Group highlighted the danger of “a further deterioration in the sustainability... of rural life in many parts of Ireland, with consequent impoverishment of many communities”.

Meanwhile, the Medical Ethics group submitted a paper on the ethics of the use of stem cells and concluded that an open debate on the subject combined with “very careful regulation of embryo research” would ensure the continuing improvement of scientific knowledge without infringing ethical and moral principles.

The Social Justice and Theological Group (RI) had produced an informative report on the issue of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland.

Future projects already identified by the Church in Society Committee included Poverty and Violence, Cloning, Child Labour, Children and Advertising and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

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