CONFLICT, and how to bring good out of its threats, is a common theme for most of this issue — though not the major conflicts involving Donald Trump, which must wait until later this year.
First comes conflict within the Anglican Communion, and by implication in Ireland, which Bishop Kenneth Kearon, a former Secretary General of the Communion, addresses with admirable restraint. Revd Ruth Elmes of Dalkey follows with a personal message of support for the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally.
The legacy of the Troubles of Northern Ireland comes next, as new bills designed to bring justice to survivors make their course through first the UK and then Irish parliaments. The argument about the status and definition of ‘veterans’ continues to bring anxiety to the bereaved of both communities. More hopeful, perhaps, is the account by the Ven. Robert Miller and his psychiatrist twin, Prof. Paul Miller, of Derry-Londonderry’s ambulant Walled City Passion Play, which for many years has offered healing to those stuck in the trauma of the 1990s. Other cities, please take note — and copy.
Inevitably, the conflict in the Middle East and its reverberations continue to distress us. Our contributors offer their thoughts on moving towards peace and mutual sharing. Dr Ed Kessler, founder director of the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, stresses the need for respectful listening to the Other; Maurice Cohen, Chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, warns that empathy must be extended to all sides of a dispute; and a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, now in Dublin, shares his own community’s story.
To leave conflict issues behind at last, a stimulating article by Revd Dr Lucas Mix, leader of the ECLAS ‘Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science’ project at Durham University, reflects on the divine energy in all creation, from its smallest to its greatest manifestation.
An ‘In Retrospect’ tribute to the late Canon Billy Marshall precedes the rich crop of Book Reviews and the updated subscription forms. Remember that digital copies can be had for the old price.
Happy reading!
