Corrymeela Corrymeela asked voters to consider ‘a worse alternative’
Inclusion and cooperation should be priorities in the North’s upcoming elections, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation centre has said. In a statement following the announcement of the March 2 election, Corrymeela community leader Pádraig Ó Tuama said that while reconciliation is difficult, “the alternative is worse”.
Insisting that the people of the North deserve creative and hopeful leadership for the benefit of all, the community called on politicians to show gestures of inclusion and follow these gestures with action. It offered to host gatherings, both on and off the record, so community groups and political leaders can meet in a spirit of good will.
Vatican Order of Malta probe will go ahead
The Vatican has insisted that a papal investigation into the Order of Malta will go ahead, despite the order’s protestations.
The order, with nearly 4,000 members in Ireland volunteering their time to provide first-aid medical services, has been in disarray since a senior official was dismissed in December.
Pope Francis announced on December 21 that he was appointing a panel to investigate the dismissal and other issues in relation to the order.
However, the head of the order rejected this commission as irrelevant insisting that it would undermine the sovereign status of the organisation.