In the annual joint Easter message of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin, along with the Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell, said, “Within our own broken society, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement has held out the challenging ‘message’ of reconciliation. However, it will only be put into effect if we commit ourselves to the ‘ministry’ (ie the service) of reconciliation. Christian people have a particular calling to this work of service, knowing ourselves to be indebted to God in a way we can never repay. We have been forgiven much and are called to love much.”
“Meaningful reconciliation here is the unfinished work of peace. We all have a part to play in the service of building a reconciled society: governments, in the framing of policy and legislation and in the rebuilding of relationships at the highest levels; civic society, in fulfilling their varied tasks with competence and honesty; individual citizens, in remembering that great societies are those which take into account not only their debt to the past, but also their obligations to those yet to be born. We are thankful these days for having recently witnessed in Northern Ireland ‘a little resurrection’ of certain institutions, which in themselves are necessary but which in reality are impotent things without the ministry of reconciliation which we each hold in our hands,” the Archbishops stated.
In a specially commissioned video [LINK] for Easter 2024, Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick, said, “So what does this Holy Week tell us? It tells us that life is a journey. That there will be hardships. There will be crosses to bear. It tells us that there are people who will always be with us, to help us, to carry any cross we are given; our family, our friends. It tells us that there is always hope. Hope of new beginnings. Hope given to us by the great Risen Lord. Above all, it tells us that God is always with us.”
The full text of these Easter messages, along with bishop homilies for the Mass of Chrism and other Holy Week liturgies, are available on catholicbishops.ie/category/news/news-archive-2024/ (please make this link neater)
ENDS
