The Church Of Ireland
Press Release

Speaking at the Official Opening of Ceiliúradh, a week-long ecumenical Celebration of Christian Liturgy at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Monday 19 June, President Mary McAleese wondered what Christ would make of the state of the Christian Church in Ireland today. Reminding the audience which included a number of distinguished international liturgists and conference participants that the Jubilee Year was a time for Christians to refresh their spiritual energy she said, " most of our difficulties are of our own making."

President McAleese at the official opening of Ceiliúradh. Left is Dean Paterson and right Leslie Whiteside, chair of Ceiliúradh	President Mary McAleese with Prof. Ann Loades who gave a keynote address at Ceiliúradh

Of the positive side of Irish life, she said, "We have some of the most extraordinary showcases of Christian goodness. All over Ireland in community after community you will find individuals, families, local groups grinding away, day after day, at the relentless work of love."

She went on, "There is no shortage of signs of God's grace at work here and some of the signs cut across denomination, creating partnerships across history's old divide." As President she met daily those "whose lives rarely make headlines but if they stopped what they are doing, this island would know an instant ice age, a huge impoverishment of civic life."

Acknowledging that "we could give the Lord a great tour of our highlights" she regretted the poor state of inter-church relations. "We ring bells and proclaim to the world the good news when we manage to get modest numbers of Christians of different denominations to be civil to one another, when we get to talk to one another and especially, when we get to pray together, but we know the Lord will be less than impressed by our success to date."

She added, "The scars of sectarian division are still raw in places. His eyebrows would be raised by some of the things said in private and in public by Catholics about Protestants, by Protestants about Catholics, and by white ethnic Irish Christians about people of other colours and ethnic backgrounds."

Other shortcomings, she noted included the abuse of children "by people who dared to offer themselves as ministers of His Gospel," sneering at the mentally handicapped, the easy begrudgery of the God-given talents of others, and the abundance of cynicism.

She said, "The Lord would have pity for the many fine people in all walks of life including politics, the church, the public service, who have made Ireland successful and who now feel the ambient suspicion and distrust erode their energy and confidence." She added, " We could easily break His heart here and without much effort."

President McAleese said that the challenge was how to cope with this angst. "Left to fester it drains energy and leads to paralysis." She hoped that it would become "the radical energy, the fuel which can drive tomorrow's change. The nervous energy of a people getting ready for the big push towards a more humanly decent society."

The President praised the organisers of Ceiliúradh for the impressive programme of events, lectures, worship workshops, concerts and public liturgies they had organised.

Amongst those at the Opening were Archbishop Empey, Dean John Paterson, and Bishop Eamonn Walsh, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin. Following her speech Mrs McAleese was presented with an inscribed copy of the cathedral's history, Christ Church Cathedral Dublin A History, edited by Kenneth Milne, by Ms Lesley Whiteside, chairperson of Ceiliúradh's organising committee.