Press Releases15 Mar 11

Address by the Archbishop of Armagh at Abrahamic Religions Dinner

Address given by The Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, at the Abrahamic Religions Dinner in Belfast Castle, Thursday 10 March 2011

The following is the transcript of an address given by Archbishop Harper at the recent Abrahamic Religions Dinner hosted by the Northern Ireland Dialogue Society. Others speaking at the event were Cardinal Sean Brady; the Revd Dr Donald Kerr, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, and Kerim Balci, Theologian/columnist from the Muslim Community.  The theme of the evening was ‘Why dialogue in today’s world?

Address by Archbishop Alan Harper

I want to begin by expressing my gratitude to the organizers of tonight’s event for taking what is, I believe, an extremely important initiative. An event such as this acknowledges not only that Ireland is changing, north and south, but it also demonstrates a shared recognition that changes are required in the pattern of relating among faith communities on this island.

We share a common humanity, we share in the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship, and we share a responsibility for building a sustainable future marked by mutual respect, tolerance, respect for the rule of law and therefore for the tenets of natural justice and equality.

Those faith leaders represented here tonight share something else: a common heritage in the patriarchal tradition deriving from Abraham – our pre and proto-historic common story. Story tellers with a common fund of stories tell their stories in distinctive and different ways. Sometimes the denouements of such stories differ in certain particulars; but common roots, especially a common root in the recognition that there is but one God, proffer to us the starting points for creative dialogue.

In Ireland, with its well publicized history of divisions associated with differing religious traditions, there is a compelling rationale for engaging positively in such dialogue. Division in Ireland finds itself rooted in questions of identity and allegiance beyond the confines of a narrowly defined theology. We have a responsibility to heal such divisions and the Churches represented here have a deep commitment to completing the journey towards healing. Now that citizens and residents of this island find their spiritual identities drawn from many of the major world religions we must jointly demonstrate that peace, which is a concept embedded deep in each of our religions, is a flower that can bloom in a multi-faith as well as a multi denominational context. And there is much to suggest that we have made a good beginning and that momentum is gathering. The key to success lies first and foremost in building trust and respect amongst ordinary folk. This is much harder to achieve if those in positions of leadership do not model and foster the relationships we so much desire - those relationships must begin with and be sustained by us.

We also have always to be aware that it is not necessarily what happens in Ireland that shapes actions and attitudes in Ireland. We each have to cope with those in our own midst who profess and act out an aggressive fundamentalism. World events involving religious conflict can and do reverberate internationally and impact on community relations far removed from the scene of the conflict itself; and, whereas in the past information about distant conflict and the causes of distant conflict may have been slow to arrive, now the information is instantaneous and unedited with little distinction between objective fact, personal opinion, and malign propaganda. Therefore we have a special responsibility as faith leaders in Ireland to prevent (as far as may be feasible) far away antagonisms resulting in local domestic division. We can and should do that both by what we model and by what we say.

There are those who take the view –  and I frequently receive correspondence about it –  that religions in general and the Christian religion in particular are under sustained attack by the New Atheists and other secularists. My view about these things is simple: to borrow a phrase, ‘God has not gone away you know’ and religious faith is neither dead nor dying. This does not mean that the right to be true to one’s faith is not in need of constant reassessment. In this respect we need to stand together and, in particular, to be prepared to stand in one another’s shoes so that we are able to become advocates for one another in the exercise of our basic religious freedoms.

Ireland is a land deeply and permanently shaped by the Christian religion, we shall celebrate that next week, on St Patrick’s Day. Christianity is therefore fundamental to our culture and identity. It has shaped our institutions and our framework of laws and liberties. We are sincere when we say to all citizens that these are things that we are proud to share in and offer to all for the benefit of citizens and residents regardless of faith.

There is a current debate, most recently articulated in Great Britain, about the rival merits of integration and multiculturalism. For myself I think that there is a grave danger of embracing as a doctrine a false dichotomy between integration and diversity. I don’t think it is a matter of ‘either/or’ but of ‘both/and’. We need neither apartheid whose polite name is ‘separate development’, nor a system of ultra-integration that enforces uniformity or persecutes diversity. We must aspire to and recognize a shared citizenship with shared responsibility and mutual accountability for building a shared future in which diversity is a source of enrichment and division the harbinger of impoverishment, economic, social and personal. This is a religious task whether you pray to Allah, to Adonai, or to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a task to which I am personally committed as I know it is of many gathered around this table of fellowship this evening. May God bless the work.

ENDS