Ecumenism essential, declares bishop

The Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, has said that ecumenism was "integral to the nature and mission of the church

The Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, has said that ecumenism was "integral to the nature and mission of the church." Not being ecumenically minded was "not Christian," he said.

At a service in the Church of Ireland, Kilscoran, Co Wexford, to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, he said: "It is that church, that ecclesial community, which is not ecumenically minded that is truly deficient."

Describing the Vatican's Do- minus Iesus document as "somewhat of a communications disaster", he pointed out that the document had not said "the true Church of Christ exists only in the Catholic church. What it teaches is that it is only in the Catholic Church that it continues to exist fully."

Couples in inter-church marriages were "the real victims of church disunity" and were owed total commitment.

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry is a contributor to The Irish Times