Press Releases
Irish Church Leaders Urged To 'Move Beyond Their Clan'
Church leaders from across Ireland met together in Dromantine Conference and Retreat Centre, Co. Down on Wednesday 28 September 2008 to consider their responsibilities as part of a community ‘Moving Forward Together in Diversity’. They were led in their reflections by Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche community, who reminded them of the prophetic role of the weak and despised in any real change.
Revd Aian Ferguson, Dr Duncan Morrow, Archbishop Alan Harper, Jean Vanier, Prof Vincent McBrierty, Miss Nicola Rooney, Revd Ruth Patterson, Rt Revd Dr Donald Patton, Revd Roy Cooper and Cardinal Sean Brady
‘The change that really matters is a change of heart’ he said. ‘Such change is made possible through meeting in true communion, and is the gift of the weak and the vulnerable to humanity.’
The church leaders were challenged to ‘move beyond their clan’ and to risk humiliation in the search for love in a broken society and world. Church leaders acknowledged the importance of this task and agreed that the search for unity was a question of vulnerability and service rather than structures and bureaucracy.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Eithne Agnew on +44 (0)7976 590532 or 028 (048) 9062 1867 or by e-mail