Responding to violence During the religious service commemorating the death of two Poles, Pawel Kalite and Marius Szwajkos, killed with a screwdriver past February 23rd following a row with a young gang near their home in Drimnagh, a district of Dublin, Msgr. Diarmuid Martin, the city’s archbishop, called for a summit addressing the problem of violence in Irish society. The vigil held in the past few days in “Our Lady of Good Counsel” church, was attended by Irish President Mary McAleese, by the Minister of Justice Brian Lenihan and Minister of State Conor Lenihan. Msgr. Martin described it an exemplary “community answer to a tragedy”. “Some months ago I launched an appeal to organize a summit on the problem of violence in our society”, he said during the service. “I have no specific plan; maybe it should be held by ordinary people: local associations, parents, youth, teachers, priests and the police could work together on issues that everyone is concerned with, sharing information and debating specific issues. Authorities could grant practical support and promote the meetings. “Much has already been done against violence. This work must be done throughout the city while experience and information need to be shared as much as possible”, claimed the archbishop of Dublin, for whom the challenge of violence and drug abuse in Irish society goes beyond the problem of crime prevention and requires a greater effort involving the entire community. “We can’t be close only during tragic moments, when it’s too late”, he said. Over two thousand people took part in a silent wake during which the family of the victims read out a letter of appreciation for the moral support they received. Cardinal Brady meets the Orangist OrderHis Eminence Cardinal Sean Brady, archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, met in Armagh the representatives of the Orangist Order who every year in the month of July march through a Catholic neighborhood causing turmoil. In 1998 the march was suspended to prevent further violence. The march starts from the church of Drumcree and it celebrates the defeat of the Catholic king James II in 1960 by James III. Catholic inhabitants of Garvaghy Road view it as an attack against their identity since it celebrates Protestant traditions. It’s the first time that the Catholic Primate meets the head of the Orangist Order, founded at the end of 1700 to promote Protestant identity. Darryl Hewitt, one of the representatives of the Orangist Order declared to the Catholic daily “The Universe”: “Cardinal Brady told the press that greater effort is needed to understand the Orangist tradition and condemned the attacks against our headquarters, the Orange halls. We wish to meet the Cardinal and thank him for his words, especially his condemnation of violence and of the attacks against our properties. We want to explain why we reached a standstill with the Drumcree parade and underline that the Orangist order is willing to negotiate with the inhabitants of Garvaghy Road directly to solve the quarrel. Our only condition, which we consider reasonable, is the presence of an independent president”.An ecumenical Maundy Thursday with the Queen”It was the Queen herself who wanted the Maundy Thursday ceremony to include, as well as the Catholics, also the Methodists and Presbyterians, so that it could become a very important ecumenical service for Northern Ireland”. With these words, Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and leader of the “Church of Ireland”, the Irish Anglican Church, tells to SIR about the decision taken by the Queen to transfer for the first time the ancient service to the Anglican Cathedral of St. Patrick, in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The ceremony will also be attended by the Catholic primate of Ireland, card. Sean Brady, and by delegates of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. The service, during which the Queen will hand out purses containing money to 164 delegates of the four Christian denominations, dates back to 1300. In the past, the monarch used to wash the feet of the guest subjects. In 1633, James II, after the Protestant Reform, replaced the washing of the feet with the handing out of purses full of money, specially coined for the occasion. The participants are a man and a woman, one for each year of the Queen’s age, who have stood out for the way they have served their own communities. According to the leader of the Irish Anglican Church, “it is significant if a service like the one of Maundy Thursday, built around the virtue of humility, becomes an ecumenical occasion”.
