The head of the Spirit of Drumcree group, Mr Joel Patton, has criticised the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, over an open letter he signed appealing to Orangemen to act within the law at Drumcree.
While Dr Eames did not directly call on Portadown Orangemen to return from Drumcree by a route other than the nationalist Garvaghy Road, his remarks about acting within the law are tantamount to such an urging.
Should the Parades Commission next week reroute the parade away from the Garvaghy Road, it would be an offence to break that ruling. Even if the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, decided to overturn such a ruling in the interests of public order and allow the parade down the Garvaghy Road, those parading would still be in breach of the law.
Mr Patton said the letter was "putting pressure on Portadown district when they need support". He suggested the Church of Ireland would lose support and members if it did not back the Orangemen who are demanding the right to parade down the Garvaghy Road.
"If they want to go down the road of trying to distance themselves from people and their expressions of their culture and identity, then they are treading on a very dangerous road," Mr Patton told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme yesterday.
Mr Patton said he understood that the Orange Order would defy an instruction to reroute the march. "From what I can read they say they are going to defy any attempt to stop them from parading - peacefully. But they are going to do that," he said. Officially the Order is not divulging what position it will take if the parade is rerouted.
The open letter, from Dr Eames and the rural deans of Armagh diocese, was sent to the District Master Officers and members of the Portadown District of the Orange Order, and reads:
"As the date for the attendance of Portadown Lodges at morning service in Drumcree approaches we write to you as clergy with special responsibilities in the Church of Ireland diocese of Armagh. We have shared with our clergy colleagues in ministering to the people of this diocese through many years of turmoil and civil unrest. We are conscious of the conflicting pressures under which people have lived through years of uncertainty and violence in this Province and we recognise the pain and the courage of victims and their families.
"We pay a genuine tribute to the responsible leadership and example which have been set by members of the Orange Institution on occasions in the past.
"Attendance at a service in which we worship Almighty God is a great privilege. The traditional attendance at Drumcree Church by Portadown Lodges has gone on for many years. It is the practice of the Church of Ireland that attendance at divine worship is open to anyone and we welcome the opportunity afforded by the Drumcree Church for members of the Order to worship God.
"We are also conscious of the perception of this event in the Province and beyond. Over recent years you are as aware as we of the controversies which have arisen due to the parade of lodges on their return from divine worship over some routes. We deeply regret the circumstances which have arisen in recent years and the ways in which those circumstances had led to inter-community violence and division. As you are also aware, the Archbishop has made strenuous efforts in the past few years to ameliorate this situation through contacts with the Order and others in the local community.
"We believe that attendance at a service of the Church of Ireland carries with it privilege and responsibility in equal degrees. While as churchmen we cannot control events beyond the confines of church property we are deeply conscious that unrest and disruption on a return from such worship degrade the spiritual and indeed the sacred nature of that worship. In particular, it also places immense pressures on the parish of Drumcree, its rector and people, who faithfully worship in their church throughout the year.
"The Church of Ireland does not wish to be associated with such divisiveness. We appeal to the Portadown Lodges to do all in their power to respect the privilege of worship and by their dignified behaviour both on their way to Drumcree church and on their return to act peacefully and within the law. In this way such dignified conduct would show the `more excellent way' of Christian love and forbearance.
"We write as clergy who understand the pressures on all sections of this community at this difficult time. The right to parade is established and accepted, as indeed is the right to make a public protest - peacefully and within the law - but so also is the sacredness of worship and the well-being of this entire Province and all its people."
The letter was signed by Dr Eames, with Deans Herbert Cassidy, Raymond Hoey, Colin Moore, William Neely, Terence Scott, and Derick Swann.
The decision as to whether a Church of Ireland service is cancelled or postponed is a matter for the local church vestry and its rector. The church's bishops or Archbishops cannot overrule them.
