THE Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, last night said he looked forward to a "happy ecumenical collaboration" with Archbishop Empey in the coming years.
"I greatly welcome the election of Bishop Walton Empey as Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough in the Church of Ireland", Dr Connell said in a statement.
"I pray that God will bless his new ministry abundantly. I had the pleasure of meeting Bishop Empey a few days ago and I found him, as always, a most warm and friendly person.
"I look forward to a happy ecumenical collaboration with the new archbishop in the coming years."
The Dean of Christ Church, the Very Rev John Paterson, said he was delighted at Bishop Empey's election as the new archbishop.
"I worked with him for four years in the Kildare diocese when he first went there as bishop, and I always found him very easy to work with and a very caring pastor," he said.
Dr Robin McDermott, Clerk of the Dublin Synod of the Presbyterian Church, said the new archbishop was a man "who gets on well and easily with people". He wished him well in his new position.
The Rev Robert Dunlop, a Baptist minister in Kildare, said the new archbishop was "a warm, welcoming man with a hearty spirit and a pastoral heart. He is a down to earth person without pretension, and is always approachable and affable.
"Those of us who belong to smaller denominations have appreciated his fairness and generous attitude," he added.
"In these times of great change in church life in the Republic, we wish the new archbishop God's enabling as he leads the Church of Ireland in Dublin into a challenging future for all who reach out with the healing consolation of the gospel of Christ".
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