The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, believes Sinn Fein and the SDLP should talk to the Police Authority in Northern Ireland. "Everybody should avail of the opportunity to talk," he said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in Maynooth, Dr Walsh was giving his view on the matter following a call, made at the Methodist conference in Dublin this week, for both parties to talk to the Police Authority.
The Rev Sam Clements, who ministers at Cullybackey, Co Antrim, and whose brother and nephew, both RUC men, were killed by the IRA, called on Sinn Fein and the SDLP to talk to the Police Authority.
If, as they say, they believe the way forward was through dialogue, "they should be there," he said.
Dr Walsh said "all should give their views" to the new Police Commission as well. It was a body which he considered "very important." He drew attention to those parts of the Belfast Agreement which envisage the police "as a service and not as a force".
Commenting on the Assembly elections, he urged people to vote, adding that "if people want the agreement to work, they should vote accordingly".
He thought it possible that legislation on abortion might become a responsibility of the new Assembly, and said it was very important that people should know candidates' views on the right to life.
On decommissioning he said "guns should never be used again" and read out the section of the Belfast Agreement dealing with the issue, which he emphasised had been signed by all parties.
Throughout the Troubles the church had continued to emphasise the immorality of violence and the use of the gun, he said.
Regarding paramilitaries joining the police, he could see no difficulty if they had renounced violence and were selected on merit.
At the same press conference, the Irish Catholic Bishops' spokesman, Father Martin Clarke, said discussions have been taking place about the possible rationalisation of seminaries, due to declining numbers of entrants.
"It is being looked at by the (Bishops') Conference at the moment," he said. The matter had been discussed at the bishops' meeting in Rosapenna, Co Donegal, last November, he said.
He dismissed speculation that Maynooth may lose its Pontifical status as a seminary. He also said the inter-church Communion document being prepared by the bishops' conferences of Ireland, Scotland, and England and Wales would be published at the end of September. Entitled One Bread One Body, he described it as "a substantial document" which was "at an advanced stage (of preparation) . . . it has virtually been agreed".
It was hoped the document would be published by the various conferences on the same day. He indicated its content would be an outline of the church's teaching on the matter, in 1990s language for a 1990s context.
On the return of Bishop Eamonn Casey, he said that discussions on the matter were continuing. Involved are Dr Casey, the Irish Bishops' Conference, and the Congregation of Bishops in Rome. He thought a decision was probable before the end of the summer, when Dr Casey's contract in Ecuador expires.
He said he could foresee meetings of the Bishops' Conference being open to the press, for some sessions at least.
"I would think this is possible in the future," he said. Bishops Walsh and Murray agreed. They were responding to the observation by a reporter that over the past month the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Methodist Church in Ireland all hosted annual conferences at which the press was present. This was in contrast with the situation at Maynooth, where for the past three days the Irish Bishops' Conference has been meeting behind closed doors.
