Last week's IRA statement is a only a first step to re-establishing trust and openness within Ireland's divided communities, the Catholic Bishop of Clogher has said.
Dr Joseph Duffy praised the negotiating teams involved for their "long hours of hard work" in securing the breakthrough, but warned it would take "months if not years" to grasp its full significance.
"The immediate value of the statement is to draw attention
to the extreme urgency of continuing to address the
legacy of the conflict, to renew our resolution to healing the scars of generations," the bishop said.
"How best to build openness and trust within and between divided communities - where the opposite has become a deeply embedded way of life - is the essence of the task."
The issue is especially critical in cross-Border communities, Dr Duffy said.
"The ongoing economic neglect of these communities on both sides of the Border over years is an obvious and urgent need, crying out for immediate and vigorous attention, to be addressed as intrinsic to the overall social health of the country, North and South.
"But it's not at all the full answer to our current problems. Time and again, particularly in private conversation, we get glimpses into a hidden Ireland out there that expresses itself in sectarian terms, that condones crime on one's own side while deploring it on the other."
He added: "In our more honest moments we may admit this to ourselves, but surely the time has come to face the implications in whatever practical ways we can, and this can begin with our neighbours in our own parish and area."