Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese addressed Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, with powerful Pride speech. An ally of the community for decades, the former president spoke to Christ Church Cathedral about Pride and LGBTQ+ inclusion at Choral Evensong on Sunday, June 30th.
The former president has a history of fighting for LGBTQ+ equality.
At last weekend’s Evensong Pride event, Mary McAleese referenced the country’s former criminalisation of homosexuality, commenting, “In this overwhelmingly Christian country there can be no doubt that the racists, homophobes and misogynists will all have heard the words of the great commandment to love one another. They have ignored them, or worse, edited them cynically.”
McAleese went on to note that the country is still marred by anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and violence; that it is not a thing of the past. “Pride helped to change attitudes, change Ireland. Pride has grown so exponentially that this is by far the best decade for LGBTIQA+ men and women in our country but in no way can anyone who proclaims the commandment to love one another settle for the way things are for there is a long road yet to travel to that place where love triumphs and proves its worth. If the best is yet to come it will take more courage, more work, more Pride gatherings, more solidarity until all that miserable hatred is squeezed out by Pride, by lived love of neighbour,” McAleese concluded.
At the service, Mary was inducted as a patron of 'Changing Attitude Ireland', which exists to promote love, understanding, and justice for all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, particularly within the Church of Ireland. They aim to create an inclusive and affirming environment within the church family where LGBTQIA+ individuals and couples can express their faith and be fully accepted, loved and valued, participating without restriction in all aspects of the Church’s life. They seek to engage with clergy, congregations, and church leaders, encouraging open dialogue, empathy, and a deep understanding of the diverse experiences and needs of LGBTQIA+ people. They are inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, who reached out to the marginalised of his society, and now challenges us to do likewise in our own time and culture, and so express the fullness of God’s acceptance and love.
Part of the Church of Ireland, St Nicholas Church, Adare and its fellow churches teaches and ministers within the progressive Christianity tradition, with influences from the scholars who built on the work of the Jesus Seminar. It seeks to be a church that is welcoming and inclusive, affirming and open in its liberal theology; and whilst we don’t claim to have all the answers, we are most certainly committed to ‘living the questions’. We have influences of Celtic spirituality in our worship and view of the natural world, living as we do in the beauty of County Limerick.
The Church of Ireland also forms part of the Anglican communion which is an association of Anglican churches from 38 provinces, including the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales, the Episcopal Church in the USA (otherwise known as the Episcopalians) and churches across the globe. With 80 million members, it is the third largest Christian body in the world, after the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
