24.05.2024
‘Dig deep to develop a climate of respect’ – Statement from the Archbishop of Dublin
… from the present to the future …
Over a period of ten days, I will have had the opportunity to associate with people I know and love in The Middle East on three successive occasions. The first was my invitation to attend the annual gathering of The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem (comprising Israel, The West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) in Amman, Jordan. The second was my invitation to attend the Inauguration Ceremony of Rabbi Yoni Wieder as Chief Rabbi of Ireland in Dublin. The third is the invitation that has been issued to the Archbishop of Jerusalem and a number of the clergy to spend a time of retreat with me and a number of my clergy in Dublin and which they as a group are about to take up. On both earlier occasions, I was treated with utmost respect and warmth as a friend and I hope that I, along with others, can reciprocate such a response to the presence of visitors with us from the Middle East in the coming days.
Since October 7th 2023, I have sought to be even handed in expressing sorrow and sadness, compassion and care for those who have become victims of war and hostilities in what I, and countless others, call The Land of the Holy One. We do this not to insult anyone but to respect its pivotal position in the self–understanding of people belonging to three World Faiths with whom I have daily dealings at home and abroad. I have found that all three groupings have in common the fact that they are people of faith and people of welcome.
I therefore appeal to all of us to respect those who are different from one another and different from us, whoever ‘we’ are at any given moment. It is a neighbourhood principle. It is a global principle. It is a human principle.
War brings the strongest increase and accentuation of difference that is humanly possible. It takes difference to the point of untold and irreversible tragedy and destruction of lives and the sustenance of life. All of us are free to hold personal views and convictions on societal matters both local and global. I appeal to you, at the same time, to dig deep within yourselves in order to develop a climate of respect and reciprocal dignity across all social and community groupings and faiths, not least when matters are so tense and torn between Israel and Palestine most widely understood. I do so because of the friendship that I have received from every quarter over decades of engagement and visits.
Hate speech, anti– and pro– language perpetuate and embed negativities. They enable caricature to morph into definition and definition to settle into identity. They create the filters of default through which we see others and understand ourselves. This is why they are so dangerous for everyone involved, whether we discern it or not.
The value in which we hold one another is expressed in the language we use. Not only does it shape the discourse. It also shapes the psyche. Sooner or later, we will all meet one another through what we have done, what we have allowed to happen and what we have not contradicted when contradicting it was the right thing to do. Once again, I appeal for a spirit of truth that is a spirit of love and a spirit of peace.
The Most Reverend Dr Michael Jackson
archbishop of Dublin and bishop of Glendalough May 2024