NI schoolgirls attend Croke Park event to hear fellow pupil speak,
THE Presbyterian Moderator said yesterday that his attendance at a papal reception in Dublin represented a “reaching out of the hand of friendship” to Catholic neighbours and friends.
It was the first time a Moderator had attended a papal event in Ireland.
In 1979 the Presbyterian Church decided not to meet Pope John Paul II on his visit to the Irish Republic.
“It has been a very historic visit,” Charles McMullen said yesterday.
“I’m very glad that I’ve been able to be in Dublin to represent the Presbyterian Church in Ireland at the state reception for Pope Francis, and to be at Croke Park last night for the family event.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence, the Moderator said he was very conscious of the importance of the papal visit for the Catholic faith community.
“As a Church we recognised from the start that the visit of Pope Francis would be a very significant event for our fellow Roman Catholic neighbours and friends,” he said.
“It’s something that’s important to them, and we wanted to join them in welcoming the visit of the leader of their Church.
“Being in Dublin doesn’t diminish the differences that we have doctrinally or theologically.
“But I hope that reaching out the hand of friendship, especially for the sake of building good relations, sets an example as we seek to develop a more reconciled society, particularly in Northern Ireland.”
Turning to the significance of the Pope’s visit for the future of relationships between the Churches in Ireland, Dr McMullen said: “It would be a very lonely place if we met and spoke only to those whom we agreed with, and who agreed with us.”
Billy Davison, president of the Methodist Church, told the programme he thought the Pope’s emphasis on the importance of the family had helped bring people together.
“His emphasis on the family is a very important theme,” he added.
“And that makes a connection between all of us, because we are all concerned for family life and the pressures that people have,” Rev Davison went on.
“In that sense there’s a connectedness — and Pope Francis has helped bring people together.”
Church of Ireland Archbishop Richard Clarke also attended the weekend papal reception at Dublin Castle.
“I think it’s important that he spoke to abuse victims, and spoke to people who had been damaged in any way,” he told the programme.
“The sheer personality of Francis has really meant that there has been an opening, a permission if you like, for friendship at local level.”