Archbishop Robin Eames was critical yesterday of the appointment of Welsh Secretary Peter Hain as Northern Ireland Secretary also.
Dr Eames, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, said the appointment by British prime minister Tony Blair gave rise to a perception that Northern Ireland was "not as important as it used to be when it was a full-time job."
Responding to questions at a press conference at the Church of Ireland General Synod in Dublin, Dr Eames said he was "intrigued" by the appointment, adding: "The peace process is a full-time job."
Addressing the result of last week's general election in the North, he said: "The DUP and Sinn Féin have been given clear political power to influence life in Northern Ireland . . . A polarised society has spoken. The moral judgment will turn on how that power is used. Time will tell."
Urging both parties to move the process of reconciliation forward, he said: "Peace and justice remain more important than any single party. History will not judge kindly a reluctance to use political power to make society on this island safer, more stable and just."
He said that probably the biggest obstacle to moving the peace process forward was what happened to those who had arms, on both sides. He said the value of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams's call on the IRA to consider its position would be judged by the IRA response, but "violence must now be solely relegated to criminality," he said.
He praised former UUP leader David Trimble, who lost his seat in the general election, for his courage and vision and for "putting his head above the parapet". But he felt Mr Trimble would be among the first to say that the peace process was more important than any person. He believed history would judge him kindly."
On the election of Pope Benedict XVI, author of Dominus Iesus, which described all reformed churches as "ecclesial communities" and "not churches in the proper sense", Archbishop Eames said he had seen what could happen when a person became a leader. They could undergo change under the weight of responsibility.
He described Dominus Iesus as "devastating and very hurtful" but said he had been comforted by many Roman Catholic friends, who told him they did not accept its description of the status of reformed churches.
Archbishop Eames announced that he would be inviting church, state, and non-governmental agencies to take part in a special forum later this year on child poverty in Ireland, which was among the worst in Europe. "From a Christian standpoint the situation is intolerable," he said.
Titling the project "Decoding the culture", he hoped it would be "one effort to look honestly at a situation which contrasts so sharply with the picture of an affluent Ireland." He said: "I cannot tell how strongly I feel about poor children."
In a statement on behalf of the House of Bishops, Archbishop John Neill of Dublin said that in Cork last April 11th they had decided to appoint a group of experts "to advise the church further on matters related to same-sex relationships".
