Trinity College Dublin Faith & Community Relations Perspectives on Diversity, Reconciliation & Ecumenism By Dr Gladys Ganiel

Trinity College Dublin

Faith & Community Relations

Perspectives on Diversity, Reconciliation & Ecumenism

By Dr Gladys Ganiel


Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism

Funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Research Results & Survey Reports available at:

www.ecumenics.ie


The Surveys

• April – July 2009• Faith leaders & Laypeople• Island-wide• Tick box & open ended questions• Diversity, reconciliation & ecumenism• Most important issues facing faith

communities


Faith Leaders Survey

• 4,005 direct requests

• Response rate 18%• Methodists 33%• Other Religions 24%• Church of Ireland 21%• Presbyterian 18%• Catholic 13%• Other Christians 13%


Lay Survey

• Exploratory• 910 responses• Catholic 46%• Other Christians 16%• Atheist/No Religion 12%• Church of Ireland 12%• Presbyterian 8%• Other Religions 4%• Methodist 2%


Diversity & Immigration

A lot done, a lot more to do! • 44% of faith leaders have

never done anything to accommodate ethnic minorities

• 54% have preached or taught on immigration, diversity, welcoming strangers in last 12 months

• 15% have used native languages of minorities in last 12 months


Reconciliation: It’s all about me!

• Individualistic forms of reconciliation considered more important than social/political forms (ethnic groups, religious groups)

• 50% of leaders and 28% of laypeople have accessed resources on reconciliation


That would be an ecumenical matter!

I honestly don’t know. It is likely related to the word ‘ecumenical’ that I remember once being in a Father Ted episode. Other than that I do not know. – Pentecostal man, Co. Kerry


Ecumenism is?

• Religious political correctness. – independent evangelical man, Co. Down

• Seeing Jesus in those you meet of other religions. – Catholic priest, Co. Donegal

• A pain in the arse. – Christian man, Galway City


Ecumenism• Thought of mainly in terms of inter-church dialogue• Laypeople more likely than leaders to prioritise

relationships with ‘Other Religions’• Most (27%) laypeople think 11-25% of time should

be spent on ecumenism • Most leaders (40%) think less than 10% of time

should be spent on ecumenism• Leaders don’t spend as much time on ecumenism as

they would like


The Protestantisation of Irish Catholic Faith?

• Lay Catholics emphasise the importance of personal reflection even more so than people from the COI, PCI, and Methodist churches

• Lay Catholics see family & friends as influencing their faith more than clergy

• Catholics & atheists most likely to rate leaders as ‘least influential’


A new brand of lay Catholicism?John Brewer: There are stages on the way to secularisation that

are better descriptors of the position in Ireland – liberalisation in belief & individualisation in practice are more the case here. And it was remarkable to me to see the extent to which Catholics in the lay person survey ground their religious thinking not in community & tradition but the individual.

Sociologists of religion not only need to understand the process of secularisation better they need on the basis of these findings to change their characterisation of Catholicism.


Evangelicals

• 68% of faith leaders in N. Ireland, 45% in the Republic, identified as evangelical

• In the North …– 91% Presbyterian & Methodist– 61% Other Christian– 58% Church of Ireland– 42% CatholicLaypeople: 42% in NI, 20% in the

Republic


Evangelical Differences …

• Non evangelical clergy are more likely to say reconciliation is important than evangelical clergy

• Female clergy think reconciliation is more important than male clergy

• Just 20% of evangelical men have a ‘high’ view of reconciliation (47% of evangelical women, 46% non evangelical women, 42% non evangelical men)


‘Dissenter’ Differences …

• Lay evangelical Dissenters are the most likely to have a low view of reconciliation with other religions

• Dissenters are more likely to have a negative perception of ecumenism than evangelical Anglicans and non-evangelicals


The Marginalisation of Atheists?

This survey is absolutely, utterly ridiculous. Have you even considered hiring a professional to develop it? Clearly not, or even worse, you did not want to. The survey ASSUMES that one IS a religious person, and all questions are developed accordingly. But what about Atheists? You did NOT specify that the survey did not address them. – Female, Dublin


So many questions …

• How can our faith communities better handle diversity?

• Is it appropriate for conceptions of reconciliation to be so focused on the individual?

• Can ‘ecumenism’ be redeemed or should it be abandoned?


Still more questions …• Can a new brand of (lay) Catholicism develop in

Ireland?• Given that women think more highly of reconciliation

than men, has their perspective been adequately reflected in our faith communities?

• Is our view of evangelicalism coloured by what male evangelicals think about reconciliation?

• How can atheists and religious alike contribute meaningfully to debate in a fully inclusive public sphere?


Ongoing Case Studies

• Fermanagh Churches Forum

• Holy Cross Monastery Rostrevor


Alternative ways of ‘doing church’?

• Relationship with traditional denominational structures

• Why does this appeal to people?• Role in personal spirituality• Wider social and political effects• What messages can the Fermanagh Churches

Forum & Holy Cross Monastery give to the wider church?

Documents

Trinity College Dublin Faith & Community Relations Perspectives on Diversity, Reconciliation & Ecumenism By Dr Gladys Ganiel