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Introduction:Forgiveness
Derek Poole
Let
the church be church
Brian Moore
From
the Director - Statement in response to IRA and IICD Announcements
David Porter
Decommissioning
- How do I feel?
David Clements
Embodying
Forgiveness
Patrick Mitchel
Forgiveness
in the New Testament
Bill Addley
Better
than Bitterness
David
Clements
Necessary
Miracles - Thoughts on Forgiveness and Politics
Duncan Morrow
Faith
and Practice - Moyna Bill
Ruth Hutchinson
Embodying
Forgiveness Project
Stephen Graham
Tutu
Book Review
Stephen Graham
Jones
Book Review
Alice Swann
IN RESPONSE TO
IRA AND IICD ANNOUNCEMENTS
As a group of Evangelical Christians who have committed ourselves to work
across the divisions and contribute to building a better future for all,
ECONI welcomes the implementation of a previous agreement between the
IRA and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
The announcement that the process to put arms completely and verifiably beyond use has commenced, has come at a critical point in the life of our community. It comes out of a long process, in which the difficult task of rebuilding the damaged relationships that are at the heart of our conflict has involved all sections of our community taking risks – risks with each other, and risks within their own constituencies.
In welcoming these
developments, we want to acknowledge the risks taken by many of our political
leaders - unionist and nationalist, loyalist and republican – who
in different ways have pushed back the boundaries of their own traditions
in order to sustain, not only the institutions, but also the hope of the
people for a better future.
No single step taken since the emergence of the current process has, in
itself, brought peace. It is only as all of us use the opportunity presented
to make and build peace that we will move towards the shared future and
peaceful society that we long to see.
ECONI has always
challenged the legitimacy of political violence in Northern Ireland and,
consequently, views decommissioning as a moral imperative. Equally, the
process of decommissioning is critical to the building of trust and of
new relationships. Yet, while vital and important, decommissioning itself
is no guarantor of peace.
The words and actions of recent days are welcome evidence of the commitment
to address the ongoing issues in our relationships through dialogue and
free from the threat of violence. However, we do not underestimate the
challenge that we continue to face.
The political task remains critical in securing support for the actions that now need to take place. We have concerns over the existing proposals for extending the benefits of the early release scheme to those with outstanding prosecutions and those subject to extradition proceedings. We recognise that others too have concerns over various aspects of what is required to address the outstanding issues in the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
The rise of sectarian tensions, provocation and violence fed by protagonists on both sides of the divide is a constant reminder of the mistrust that feeds both fear and hostility. We are concerned about the culture of violence that has been nurtured by the on-going conflict and which continues to corrupt social development in many localities.
As Christians from the Protestant tradition we believe that decommissioning is a moral imperative for loyalism as much as for republicanism. We recognise that loyalist communities feel a strong sense of alienation from the current political process and would encourage the government to engage community representatives in addressing their concerns. We would make the same call to the Protestant churches. Government, churches and community leaders need to work together to bring to an end the sectarian violence that plagues our streets and to bring about a situation in which loyalist weapons, too, are decommissioned.
Our prayer is that we may all have the commitment to take up the opportunities that have been given to us in God’s mercy to move towards the normalisation and healing of our relationships on these islands.
This statement was issued by the members of ECONI on 29 October 2001.
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