正文
N. Ireland church leaders call for unity
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 3 minutes ago
DUBLIN, Ireland - The Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders of Northern Ireland's four biggest churches appealed Thursday for their long-divided groups to unite politically in 2007.
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In a joint statement, Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady, Presbyterian Moderator David Clarke, Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames and Methodist President Ivan McElhinney said their people "face a year of decision which will affect our future and that of our children and grandchildren."
Their comments expressed hope for the creation of a stable Catholic-Protestant administration, the central goal of Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace accord of 1998.
The British government says a new Northern Ireland Assembly will be elected March 7 whose members are supposed to form a cross-community coalition a week later. But the major Protestant-backed party, the Democratic Unionists, says it will not cooperate with Sinn Fein until the Catholic-backed party starts supporting the police force, a move Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams advocated on Thursday.
"The decisions we make will either take us forward into a shared future with a mind-set of moving forward together or leave us in the past trapped by our grudges and prejudices," the four church leaders warned.
They asked the general public to pray for political progress and to scrutinize their own attitudes toward the other side of the community.
"We ask everyone to reject those words, attitudes and actions which fuel prejudice and sectarianism," they said. "In this way we believe everyone can play a significant part in finding a way forward around which we can all unite in a spirit of equality and respect for one another."
A 2001 census indicated that of Northern Ireland's estimated 1.7 million residents, about 55 percent identify themselves as British Protestants, and 35 percent as Irish Catholics.
More than 3,600 have died since 1966 in politically motivated violence. Paramilitary cease-fires that took hold in the mid-1990s stemmed much of the bloodshed, but parts of Northern Ireland remain divided on political-religious lines, particularly Belfast, where 17 so-called "peace lines" of walls separate rival communities.
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 3 minutes ago
DUBLIN, Ireland - The Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders of Northern Ireland's four biggest churches appealed Thursday for their long-divided groups to unite politically in 2007.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a joint statement, Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady, Presbyterian Moderator David Clarke, Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames and Methodist President Ivan McElhinney said their people "face a year of decision which will affect our future and that of our children and grandchildren."
Their comments expressed hope for the creation of a stable Catholic-Protestant administration, the central goal of Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace accord of 1998.
The British government says a new Northern Ireland Assembly will be elected March 7 whose members are supposed to form a cross-community coalition a week later. But the major Protestant-backed party, the Democratic Unionists, says it will not cooperate with Sinn Fein until the Catholic-backed party starts supporting the police force, a move Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams advocated on Thursday.
"The decisions we make will either take us forward into a shared future with a mind-set of moving forward together or leave us in the past trapped by our grudges and prejudices," the four church leaders warned.
They asked the general public to pray for political progress and to scrutinize their own attitudes toward the other side of the community.
"We ask everyone to reject those words, attitudes and actions which fuel prejudice and sectarianism," they said. "In this way we believe everyone can play a significant part in finding a way forward around which we can all unite in a spirit of equality and respect for one another."
A 2001 census indicated that of Northern Ireland's estimated 1.7 million residents, about 55 percent identify themselves as British Protestants, and 35 percent as Irish Catholics.
More than 3,600 have died since 1966 in politically motivated violence. Paramilitary cease-fires that took hold in the mid-1990s stemmed much of the bloodshed, but parts of Northern Ireland remain divided on political-religious lines, particularly Belfast, where 17 so-called "peace lines" of walls separate rival communities.
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