C of I PRIMATE:THE ISSUE of what he felt could be Ireland's darkest hour was addressed by the Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Alan Harper in his Easter Sunday homily at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, yesterday.
"I cannot recall, except when the Troubles were at their worst, an Easter time when things seemed so unrelievedly black," he said. "And yet there is something wholly appropriate in that experience of dark days and dawning. The story of the glorious resurrection of the Son of God begins in darkness."
He added: "I share something of that black distress as I look upon the immense burdens that currently afflict our national life: the evidence, the full story, of the horrific extent of decades of child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, and the systemic failure to respond appropriately or legally hangs over the whole of our island like a heavy cloud."
He continued: "The disgraceful extent of the corruption and venality in our national public life, exemplified by the scandals over expenses and political influence for hire within the very precincts of the 'mother of parliaments', exposes how far many of our legislators have fallen short of acceptable standards of behaviour in public life."
The "calamitous state of the economy in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland can hardly be exaggerated", he said. "My indignation reaches the highest levels when I see hard-working people thrust into despair - even to the extent of suicide - by the very institutions that they, the taxpayers, saved from ruin."
Despite "the "lowering skies", it was "in the selfless commitment to making a difference for good that resurrection is disclosed among us. And for that I say: Thanks be to God," he continued.
In his Easter Sunday sermon at Christ Church Cathedral, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr John Neill said: "We are part of a society that has seen staggering levels not only of greed but also of corruption.
"We are part of a society that has produced social conditions that have destroyed hope for many, leading too often to the total alienation of large numbers of women, men and especially of young people.
"We have witnessed the growth of fatal addictions and the cheapening of life. We hear daily of murder and too frequently of the tragedy of suicide. This is the Ireland that requires the good news - the Gospel of the Risen Christ - as much as ever," he said.
