The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said last night in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, that through their faith and courage the people of Northern Ireland would not have to face renewed violence in society.
The Archbishop was preaching on the first day of a three-day visit to the North. He gave thanks for the life and mission of St Patrick and said the church must remember its forebears. "Were it not for St Patrick and his successors, many of us might not be here this evening."
He referred to the cathedral's stained glass window, which included "a splendid image of St Patrick carrying a shepherd's crook in his left hand, with his feet planted firmly in a bed of shamrock. Grounded in his past, his heritage - but leading his people forward as a shepherd guiding his flock."
Dr Carey spoke of the ongoing journey for the Church of Ireland.
"You know better than I that the past of this country and the history of the church in Northern Ireland have been fraught with as much pain as glory. The history of conflict and sectarian violence in this country cannot, in fact, be unlived.
"But with courage and, I would add, with faith in the compassionate guidance of God, it need not be lived again. Rather we must all look forward to the future with hope and the promise of peace, even at difficult times like the present." The Archbishop will today deliver the main address at a Church of Ireland conference in Armagh. The conference will consider the way ahead for the Church in the new millennium.
Meanwhile, the Rt Rev Dr Harold Miller, the Bishop of Down and Dromore, said the celebration of St Patrick's Day was not a shallow adherence to the trappings of romantic Irishness.
It is rather "a deep commitment to following the way of Christ in the Ireland of our generation, as St Patrick did in his generation," he said.
Dr Miller yesterday led a pilgrimage from Saul to the Hill of Down, where St Patrick's remains are buried. Members of the Catholic and Presbyterian churches joined the pilgrimage.
According to Dr Miller, the gospel offers hope in the middle of the current despair in the North's political process.
"It is vital that the politicians continue to talk and take seriously their role in peacemaking, as elected representatives of the people," he added.