All the parties to the Belfast Agreement were expected "to honour their commitments and deliver on their promises", the Catholic Primate, Dr Sean Brady, has said.
Speaking at St Edan's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Ferns, Co Wexford, last night he said "the vast majority of people want to see political progress continue", and "it would be tragic if the progress already made were to be interrupted at this stage".
He said that "the different parties to the agreement know clearly what is expected of them. They know what they have committed themselves to do. They know what they have signed up to do. People, North and South, expect them to honour their commitments and deliver on their promises. Let us pray this evening that they will receive the help they need to fulfil their commitments."
The archbishop called for closer co-operation with other Christian churches, describing it as "an urgent requirement at this time". Such co-operation must be based on respect, he said, including respect for the fact that universal disciplines could not be set aside at national level in the hope that it would contribute to an easing of local difficulties.
He recognised that when some Protestants heard Catholics talk of reconciliation there was fear of coercion. "There are shadows of the claim that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the one true church," he said. But the Catholic Church was committed to recognising and protecting freedom of conscience and religion. "As churches, we need to take a courageous and prophetic lead in bridging the religious divide," he said.
Dr Brady was echoing sentiments expressed by the Church of Ireland primate, Dr Robin Eames, in Wexford last Sunday. Speaking in St Aidan's Roman Catholic cathedral in Enniscorthy, in the first sermon by both primates to mark the annual Octave for Christian Unity, he recalled how we lived at a time of fresh hope.
What remained "a real obstacle" for church leadership was "motivation", he said. "Even as we acknowledge that, we are condemned. Motivation is not a question if we really hold the faith we say we believe in.
"There are frustrations often caused by the failure of church structures to reflect the generous and heartfelt desires of ordinary worshippers. I have seen too many instances of this," he said.
