Building relationships of mutual respect - churchmen

​They say, in their New Year message, that 25 years on from the Belfast Agreement in 1998, a whole generation has now come and gone and much has changed in the world on a global scale as well as at a local level in Northern Ireland.

They also stress that very few people living in Ireland today would want to return to the past and stress the need to stay clearly focused on the future, with a renewed commitment to the process of building relationships.

"We have travelled a long way; there is still some distance to go in our journey to peace and much work remains to be done.

"As Christian churches, we have often been captive churches; not captive to the but to the idols of state and nation.

"The shackles of our troubled and difficult past have restrained and hindered us. Relationships have been damaged. Yet ,we also need to appreciate that healing takes time.

"We need to ensure that we teach our children to love, respect and care for one another so that they learn that love is stronger than hate, good overcomes evil and light scatters the darkness.

"We enter a new year in which war, violence and conflict now overshadow so many parts of our world.

"With our experiences here in this land, may we encourage and support others to take those first steps down the road to peace, to walk in the way of reconciliation, to seek to heal and not hurt."

The Church leaders' statement adds: "Our Lord Jesus Christ's life and ministry were based on faith, hope and love. As we try to faithfully follow in the steps of the Master, seeking to love God and our neighbour; may the words of St Paul encourage us to work more closely together for a better future:

"Let us pursue the things that make for peace and the building up of one another’(Romans 14:19).

"Let us therefore continue to build relationships, break down barriers, and work for a sustainable and lasting peace and ,as ambassadors of Christ's message of reconciliation, may we model a better way of living and loving now and in the years to come.

"May you know God's blessing and peace throughout 2024."

The New Year message is approved by Presbyterian moderator the Rev Dr Mark Mawhinney, Church of Ireland primate Archbishop John McDowell; Roman Catholic primate Archbishop Eamon Martin; Methodist President Rev David Turtle, and Bishop Andrew Forster, president of the Irish Council of Churches.

* The Church of Ireland has extended thanks to its families and congregations who generously donated to the church's Bishops’ Appeal in 2023.

A church statement said: "Thanks to you and your generous donations, we have been able to support a wide range of health, education and rural development projects around the world.

"Together we have been able to make a real difference."