On the eve of the meeting of worldwide Anglican primates in London to discuss the issue of homosexual clergy, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill, said it should be remembered "that we are not simply dealing with an issue, we are dealing with real people in the life of the church".
Thirty-seven primates from the Anglican Communion will meet in Lambeth Palace this evening and tomorrow to discuss the crisis which has threatened a split Anglicanism. It was precipitated by the decision of the Episcopalian diocese of New Hampshire in the US last August to elect as its bishop, Canon Gene Robinson, who lives in an openly homosexual relationship.
In his presidential address to the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Synod last night, Archbishop Neill said: "We have within all our churches at every level people of both heterosexual and of homosexual orientation. We are quick to say that we accept them all and value them all. The difficulty for us is whether this acceptance in the case of those involved in same-sex relationships involves the formal recognition of their relationships, particularly for those ordained to the ministry."
He said his hope and prayer was "that real listening to one another, and a willingness to discern the mind of God together rather than adversarial debate, will characterise the conversation that must take place in the Church of Ireland as much as internationally" on the matter.
He called for prayers that the primates meeting in London "will see their task as being to hold a world communion together to allow it to encounter a real issue and to further the discussion, rather than fragmenting into the comfort of merely staying close to those who have already reached identical positions on an issue that is far from truly resolved".
Reflecting on issues facing Irish society today, the archbishop warned against doctrinaire positions being imposed on complex issues. "One example recently being questioned is the total ban on 'one-off' housing in many rural areas."
Some structures necessary for urban development were "simply destructive to rural life, which is much more flexible and must remain so if it is to survive".
Generally he felt it was no longer accurate to describe Ireland as a caring society. Evidence of consistent and intentional binge drinking, and an ever-increasing drug culture, said "a great deal about the necessity to escape from something that deep down is found to be meaningless and without value. Such a breakdown in society, linked with inner loneliness, is perhaps not a hundred miles from our rising suicide rate," he said.
