The Church of Ireland has issued a Press Release of the PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS delivered by The Most Rev. Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh to The Synod of the Diocese on Thursday 12th October2004 in The Synod Hall, Armagh

Below is the section of his address concerning:

THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

As you know the international Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to address the problems at present confronting the Anglican Communion has been meeting during the past year and has now completed its Report. The proposals it has reached are due to be made public on 18 October in London. As you also know it has been my privilege to Chair this Commission.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to this diocese and to the many members of the Church of Ireland who have conveyed to me their prayerful good wishes for my work since last October. This work has involved the Commission in months of careful listening, conferring and planning. We were set a most difficult task. Indeed if some commentators were to be believed it was an impossible task! You will be able to judge our Report shortly. It is not a set of conclusions that will please everyone that was not why we were established. But it is not the bland Report some feared. It has teeth. It has integrity. It has suggestions which will only be really tested by the degree to which the Churches of the Anglican Communion are prepared to ask questions of themselves. It is about that vital word communion how we relate to each other, how we regard each other and how we see God's will for the life of a diverse, vibrant and multi-cultural world Church.

It is not always easy for the local Church to see a relevance to its life in an international issue. The Church can be a very parochial society at times. But what is the issue in this regard and what has involved the attention of the Lambeth Commission has a relevance to the local scene. This diocese has many links with other parts of the Anglican Communion. Even this past year teams have gone out to work in Africa and South America from Armagh diocese. We have a strong link with CMS and other Anglican missionary organisations. We welcome visitors from other Anglican Provinces. Historically the Church of Ireland has played a role in Anglicanism far in excess of its numerical size. What this Commission addresses is the nature of all those links. It is not a judgement on sexuality issues. It is an agenda for relationships where we face deep and serious disagreements.

I can tell you that the work I have been privileged to lead in the Lambeth Commission has been a pilgrimage in its truest sense. We came together representing many nations, representing all the so called conservative and liberal stand-points and representing many different attitudes to the call of the Church. Some told us we would never complete our task, that we would not agree and that we would never be able to present one Report on which we could all agree.

The recommendations in the Report I will present next week has the support of all members of the Commission. All the well-known arguments were placed on the table. There was no shirking of issues. I saw courage and openness in those discussions but I also saw vision and a love for the Anglican tradition.

There will be an opportunity for the entire Anglican Communion to discuss our proposals in the next few months. I recognise that there will not be complete acceptance of all the Report has to say. But I do pray that it will be given serious, prayerful and honest appraisal.

In the end this Commission and its Report is about what sort of Anglican Communion we want to belong to. It is about how we deal with and relate to each other. But above all it is a seeking for what is the will of God for the Anglican Communion.

At this stage let me reflect on one aspect only of the mission of the Church. When disagreements arise, when problems face the Church, is it not all too easy to lose sight of the real mission of the Christian Church? As I listened this past year to so much argument, to voices which were at times so strident, even angry, I found myself turning back over and over again to the New Testament and the words of Christ. I found myself thinking of the desperate needs of this world. I found myself wondering what Jesus himself would make of it all. I thought of suffering men, women and children in places of war, famine and desperate need. Let me mention just one fact which should push all of us beyond parochialism to the real needs of this sad world. Did you know that the average parking-meter in the United Kingdom earns more in one hour than 70% of the world's population does in a day? I thought of those experiencing injustice and want. In short, I asked myself questions about the real needs of this sad and bewildered world. And I asked myself what is the real mission of the Christian Church. May I suggest that when you see the final Report of the Lambeth Commission, you do the same.