Sir, – Emma de Souza’s very pertinent article “Sectarianism remains deeply ingrained in North” (Opinion & Analysis, July 15th) omits the prime cause of sectarianism: the toxic theologies which developed in Irish churches over the centuries. To address sectarianism root and branch would require the churches to repent of this key feature of their histories and to develop and enunciate together a new ecumenical public theology centred upon a vision of a reconciled, transformed and redeemed society based upon the inclusive love of Jesus Christ. This will require courage and total commitment by church leaders to erode over time the poisonous sectarian culture rooted in attitudes based upon religious hatred.
There are a number of excellent studies of what is now urgently required of Irish churches in meeting the key challenge of reconciliation. I have noted them and set out the theological and biblical resources for a new public theology in “Irish Churches and Reconciliation: Breaking the Bondage of the Past” in Studies An Irish Quarterly, autumn 2019, and in “Step Back, Make Space” in the Dublin Review of Books, April 2018 (www.drb.ie).
There is no excuse for this massive Christian failure which “deeply ingrained” sectarianism represents. – Yours, etc,
FERGUS O’FERRALL,
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