'FORGIVE AND FORGET' WILL NOT WORK IN IRELAND

1 August 1999, CAUX, SWITZERLAND

PRESS RELEASE

Commenting on the 'apparent collapse' of the political process towards
peace in Northern Ireland, the Rev. Canon Nicholas Frayling, Rector of
Liverpool, UK, warned that the 'decommissioning of arms will not secure
peace without the decommissioning of hearts, minds and attitudes'.

Despite real, even anguished efforts, to fashion a political solution,
there had been little healing of a deep pervasive pain and a sense of
injustice in Northern Ireland, said the Canon, presenting a Caux Lecture at
an international conference on 'Partners on the Road to Reconciliation and
Justice' which opened in Switzerland this weekend.

The Canon is author of 'Pardon and Peace -- A Reflection on the Making of
Peace in Ireland'. He told how his own 'unhurried pilgrimage to Ireland in
order to listen and learn' over many years had brought him to the
underlying question: 'Can history be healed?'

Attitudes and prejudices would have to be confronted to even begin such
healing. 'We have to turn the searchlight inwards, in silence and humility,
and face the evil that is within,' he said.

As an Englishman, he had come to understand 'the bitter legacy' his country
has bequeathed to the peoples of Ireland, both North and South, Protestant
and Catholic. 'We drove the Roman Catholics into exile, killed thousands...
and invoked God as our justification,' said the Canon, while outlining
eight broad themes of Anglo-Irish history. 'We degraded the Irish people by
caricaturing them in the British press and media. When they protested, we
met violence with violence.'

Like many people, Canon Frayling said his way of dealing with the pain of
history had been simply 'forgive and forget'. That attitude is
understandable, especially for those who experience the day to day reality
of sectarian bitterness in Northern Ireland.

But 'forgive and forget' does not work, the Canon stressed. 'It is bad
theology, and it is untrue to the insights of human psychology. The only
way to deal with deep pain and resentment, whether far in the past or a
present experience, is not to forgive and forget but to remember and repent
-- or to remember and change.

'Too easily we speak of the need for forgiveness, without understanding
that it begins with costly repentance.'

In the 'real world' of politics, such concepts of repentance, or apology,
are often discounted as being naive. But, said Canon Frayling, there is
'ample evidence that the politics of penitence can indeed have lasting and
beneficial effects'. Among the examples he cited was that of South Africa
which has a vital lesson for the situation in Northern Ireland. 'Where
there is sufficient will for peace and reconciliation among the people,
where there exists creative and courageous political leadership in
government and opposition, and where there are prophetic and engaged
religious leaders, then, and perhaps only then, it becomes possible to sit
down and discuss the unthinkable with those one has always regarded as
unspeakable.'

'The only way to peace is through the door of justice', said the Canon,
quoting Palestinean scholar, Dr Naim Ateek. 'That begins with listening and
truth telling. Therein lies the beginning of trust, which is deeper than
mere emotion... We must not be afraid to interrogate history -- to look it
in the eye, and to hear and respect the views of others, determined in a
different cultural framework from our own... Honest conversation is the
start, the hearing and the telling of stories, and the first glimpse of the
truth that diversity is a gift and not a threat, and that there is indeed a
Wisdom beyond our own.'

The Canon's speech was preceded at the conference by a panel giving working
examples of 'Honest conversations, new partnerships' from South Africa, the
United States, Britain and Israel. Sydney Choma, mayor of the South African
mining centre of Middleburg, told how during 10 years as a prisoner in
Robben Island, he and other political prisoners had begun to create
relationships of trust with their Afrikaaner warders. 'In prison we gained
the conviction that the different races could work together,' he said. With
him on the panel was Viola Baskerville, State Legislator in Virginia, USA.
Imam Abduljalil Sajid from Brighton, U.K., spoke alongside Yehezkel Landau
from Israel. Landau told how long standing prejudice in his city of Ramle,
has been tackled through 'through honest talk and hard listening'. Dramatic
changes became possible in the city administration with the Mayor inviting
Arab and Palestinean representatives to take key positions in the Council.

The conference, focused on the 'Builders of Community' in cities around the
world, continues at the MRA international conference in Caux until 6
August.

Contact: Mike Brown, Christoph Spreng, Tel +41 21 962 9111
Fax +41 21 962 9355; E-mail: media@caux.ch
Pages Internet: http://www.caux.ch
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