A church of Ireland bishop said last night that nationalists and unionists had to take part in what he called a "high risk enterprise" if progress was to be made on the contentious issue of decommissioning paramilitary weapons.
Dr James Mehaffey, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, also said religion had played a major role in creating community divisions in the North. "The present difficulties about the decommissioning of weapons and the setting up of an executive are symptoms of a deeper problem which prevents people from recognising the political aspirations of the other side as genuine and credible." Speaking in St Mary's Catholic Church in the Creggan area of Derry, at a service to mark the church's 40th anniversary celebrations, Bishop Mehaffey said unionism and nationalism had to come to terms with the idea that each was a genuine expression of political views and that both had to be accommodated in a just and peaceful society.
"A spirit of trust and a spirit of generosity are required if real progress is to be made. It will also mean putting many inherited fears and prejudices behind us and moving forward in faith knowing that it is a high risk enterprise and that the possibility of failure and rejection are never far away," he said.
"In the divided community of Northern Ireland people must be helped to overcome their fears and openly recognise the validity of the views held by those who differ from them in religion and politics." He said a divided society was shaped by factors such as history, religion, culture and politics.
"Of all the factors the one which causes most embarrassment and unease for church members is the religious factor. A consequence of this has been an attempt to define the Northern Ireland problem in almost exclusively political terms as a conflict between nationalists and unionists.
"Such an over-simplification is far removed from the reality of life as we know it in Northern Ireland."