THE Bishop of Killaloe acknowledged last night that the Ne Temere decree, which required the children of mixed marriages to be reared as Catholics, was contrary to the spirit of Christian generosity and love. Dr Willie Walsh said many were impatient with the slow progress towards Christian unity but it was important to remember that some progress had taken place over the past 20 to 30 years.
Even in Northern Ireland, despite almost 30 years of violence, much more was being done at an interfaith level than in the first half of the century. Many ministers of religion and lay people had shown tremendous courage in, refusing to allow themselves to become instruments of division in that tragic conflict.
Preaching in St Michael's Church of Ireland in Ballina, Co Mayo, as part of Christian Unity Week, he said if further progress towards unity was to be made, it would be necessary to return again to the question of church ministry. There had been some movement in recognising the ecclesiastical reality of other churches and their need for ministry.
Any ecclesiastical community, which participated in the reality of the church of Christ must have the capacity to give spiritual power to its own pastors.