HISTORY WAS made at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral yesterday when, for the first time, the most senior Roman Catholic prelate in the city Archbishop Diarmuid Martin read the gospel at the enthronement of his Church of Ireland counterpart Michael Jackson as Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough.
The ceremony took place in the presence of President Mary McAleese who made history at the same venue on Sunday, December 7th 1997, when, in one of the first acts of her presidency, she became the first Roman Catholic president to take communion at a Church of Ireland Eucharist.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Jackson has already agreed to take part in next year’s Catholic Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.
At the invitation of Archbishop Martin he will lead a reflection on baptism at the event in June of 2012. He has described that invitation as “an act of trust and generosity” on the part of Archbishop Martin.
In a homily yesterday dominated by a theme of the desperate need for hope “in an era of insecurity and instability, of economic challenge and societal anger, and betrayal”, Archbishop Jackson said that within Christianity division made “less and less sense to a world where so much can be and is being done together”.
He recalled that last January in St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral in Armagh, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare Richard Clarke posed a question to all Christian traditions in Ireland.
He asked: “Can we please do together three core Christian activities: baptism, the reading of the scriptures and pastoral care?”
In raising this again Archbishop Jackson emphasised he was not suggesting the invitation by Bishop Clarke had “gone unheeded”.
He was simply giving it “fresh voice.” He continued: “What unites is much more important than what divides. We embrace the richness in diversity which is already ours.”
He rejoiced at participation in the enthronement ceremony “of so many members of the Christian tradition with whom we share priorities, practices, worship and witness – and difference. My hope is that togetherness will be our urgent aspiration as God moves us forward.
“The wonderful thing about recognising tradition as shared is that it takes us along pathways which we might never have seen before.”
Referring to Muslim and Jewish representatives present, as well as those of other faiths, he said: “We who are members of the Church of Ireland are honoured by the presence here of those of faiths other than Christianity.”
Among dignitaries in attendance, in addition to the President and her husband Dr Martin McAleese, were Capt Michael Treacy representing Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Gerry Breen.
Among clergy present was the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church David Chillingworth, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Bishop of Meath and Kildare Richard Clarke, the Bishop of Connor Alan Abernethy, the retired Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin Walton Empey and retired bishops James Mahaffey and Samuel Poyntz.
Catholic clergy present, besides Archbishop Martin, included the Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor and the retired bishop of Clogher Joseph Duffy.
