How the Irish can help keep the Anglican Communion together
Monday, 21st May 2007
By: George Conger

THE EXPERIENCE of overcoming sectarian division through a commitment to dialogue is a gift the Church of Ireland can bring to the Anglican Communion, ACC Secretary General Canon Kenneth Kearon tells The Church of England Newspaper.

Speaking to us recently, Canon Kearon stated he is optimistic the divisions within the Communion are on track towards an amicable resolution. Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College, Dublin, before his appointment as ACC secretary general in 2005, Canon Kearon sees parallels between the Northern Ireland peace process and resolution of the doctrinal divisions within the Anglican Communion.

If Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley could find a way forward after a century of sectarian and political bloodshed, the Anglican Communion could also find an accommodation that would preserve its unity and strengthen its witness to the world, he said. “That sort of thing is beginning to happen within the Anglican Communion,” he said. The Tanzania Primates’ Meeting was “characterised by a graciousness and a willingness to listen” and was a source of encouragement and hope.

“The Irish experience would say that at the heart of reconciliation is engagement and conversation,” Canon Kearon said. “That sounds very easy, and anyone who talks about reconciliation talks about this.” However, “real reconciliation is very, very difficult” and begins with the admission that one is “part of the problem as well as part of the solution.”the rest