Artistic Ecumenism in Action
THE MOMENT was not lost on me. It was 6am in the Phoenix Park and I was standing behind the handcrafted altar that Pope Francis would be celebrating mass from. The artist’s hands had crafted in meticulous beauty a table that was as purposeful as the one crafted 2 millennia ago. The difference would be in that one could seat 13, the other 130,000. The day before I had spoken with the carpenter who had spent days filling the smallest hole, so small that neither the mass of humanity’s eyes, nor the multiple lenses of cameras would spot it - yet the joy of the artist was to make beauty in its smallest forms for the grandest of events. I stood there for ages, watching the weather, watching the field soon to be filled, watching the anticipation and expectations build from the first volunteer to the thousand voice choir. And . . . I prayed. I prayed for Ireland, I prayed for the survivors of abuse and the forgotten mothers and children. I prayed for unity. I prayed for the churches in Ireland, all the non-Catholic ones and the non-Protestant ones. I prayed for this day of broken hallelujahs1. I prayed for the artists’ voices and craft to be seen and heard. But mostly I prayed for courage and hope and change. We needed repentance, restorative action and we needed trust restoration. I then heard a hoover behind me switch off. It was one of the “Henry” red ones with the smiling face on it. The stage manger for the event was tidying up. He said, with the face of Henry, “It suits you, Greg”. Did I mention I’m a Protestant? Did I mention that I’m an Anglican? Did I mention that I have worked and continue to work as an artist? (Among many other things, as artists must do.) Did I mention that I have worked ecumenically for nearly three decades here in Ireland? I don’t believe I did, as I don’t really see it as that radical anymore. Sure, 25 years ago working on the Falls or Shankill roads in Belfast, it was, some say, risky being ecumenical. But surely we’ve gone beyond that. Surely, we’ve gone beyond thinking the other is at least ‘misguided’ or at most ‘evil’. Surely, we are now of those who understand the wide reach of the arms of the body of Christ? Right?
* Full article available in printed copies.
Greg Fromholz
is Young Adult Coordinator for Dublin and Glendalough diocese and Director of the Rubicon gathering.