St Patrick's Day Statement from Bishop Harold Miller
Statement from The Rt Revd Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore
St Patrick's Day 2009
Every St Patrick's Day takes place in the context of a specific year with specific events in our minds. This year, we cannot but think of the recent murder of two soldiers and a member of the PSNI. Those murders are entirely opposed to the message and example of Patrick. Here is a man from Britain who gave his life to bless the people of Ireland, so that they might be freed from destructive ways of living, and brought into the glorious liberty of the Gospel of Christ.
This year, in my own diocese, we will be using the pilgrimage from Saul to Downpatrick as a time of prayer for Ireland. We will pray that the ‘snakes' of bitterness, division and sectarianism in our attitudes will be cast out for ever. The message of this past week to all who try to take us back to the dark old days is that we are not going there. By the grace of God, and in the Spirit of St Patrick, we are moving forward together as one Community into a peaceful future.
+Harold D+D