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THURSDAY OCTOBER 28 2010 Faith mattersReligious Affairs Correspondent: William Scholestel: 028 9033 7544 email: w.scholes@irishnews.com18

What clergy say publicly cancontribute to reconciliation

Belfast choirs journey to the international stag

ULTIMATE TOUR: The Schola Cantorum of St Peters Cathedral in Belfast had the honour of singing at the papal Pallium Mass on

the Feast of St Peter and St Paul this summer on a trip to Rome where they also sang for Pope Benedict at his papal audience

IREMEMBER where I waswhen I watched theevents of 9/11 unfold. Ialso remember what I didthat night.

I stayed up to watch the USpresident address his nationand the rest of the world: Agreat people has been movedto defend a great nation. Ter-rorist attacks can shake thefoundations of our biggest buil-dings but they cannot touch

the foundation of America.Big events are important not

just for what happened but forwhat is said in their aftermath.On such a day I needed tohear what the leader of thatnation had to say. What hesaid and how he said it wasimportant even to me thou-sands of miles away.

What leaders say in public isimportant. It doesnt matterwhether we like them or not.Their words at key times set atone. They have the potentialto shape future events forgood or ill.

From world-changing eventsto nearer to home. As theTroubles unfolded what lead-

ers said at key times was ofvital importance they shapedevents. What leaders say inthe public space is still crucialto our future.

Public words spoken at vitaltimes over the last 40 yearshave often come in two ways.In the aftermath of violent actswe looked to see what wouldbe said by those in a positionto say something. At othertimes it has been at times of

growing community tension.Words are the stock in trade

of Northern Ireland politi-cians. They are usually wellexperienced at speaking to thepress. In reality exposure inthe media is part of the oxy-gen of a political career.

Other people have had apublic platform thrust uponthem in the most unwelcomeand costly circumstances.

Who can forget the words ofGordon Wilson following thedeath of his daughter Marie inthe Enniskillen bomb?

I bear no ill will. I bear nogrudge. Dirty sort of talk is notgoing to bring her back tolife.

Or Michael McGoldrick as heburied his son, the victim ofloyalist killers? At a time of ex-treme tension he appealed forrestraint and asked those con-templating violence to Buryyour pride with my boy.

These are words that havehad the most enormous im-pact for good in NorthernIreland.

There is another group ofpeople that have been askedto respond publicly during theevents of the past 40 years clergy.

The place of the Church inpeoples minds may be shift-ing. Yet there is still an inter-est in what clergy have to sayin response to significantevents.

Whether at a tense interface,

following a violent act or ad-dressing some public discus-sion, clergy have had to speakinto the public space. Think ofHoly Cross, Drumcree, or theaftermath of violence. Clergywere asked to voice a publicopinion. They still are.

Clergy are not trained politi-cians yet they are often askedto speak to the media. Whatthey say can influence eventsor set a tone for healing or di-vision.

Perhaps the most enticingoption in a divided society isto say nothing at all, even withmany words. That is what in-spires journalists Liam Clarke,Kathryn Johnston and myself

to run Speaking Publicly ForPeace, a suite of courses forclergy in how to engage withthe media.

Speaking Publicly for Peaceis not about helping clergyfind ways of advertising theirchurch or polish their profile.Its not for getting more peo-ple through a particular dooron a Sunday morning. No, itcomes from the recognitionthat clergy have some sort ofleadership role in their localcommunity. What they say canstill make a difference.

The reaction of clergy to themedia can be the same as any-

one else fascination or thedesire to run for the hills.The reaction of fear is oftensimply because of the un-known. Speaking Publicly forPeace is about taking awaythat sense of nervousness. Itis about helping clergy seethat what they say into thepublic space can still make adifference.

It is showing them that theycan engage with the media forthe public good without beingeither naive or fearful.

Having run the course in var-ious parts of Northern Ireland,one thing is clear. The most in-

teresting times are when it isrun on a cross-communitybasis.

Participants found a lot ofcommon ground. They alsofound it useful to know eachothers sensitive points andvulnerabilities.

This draws out a crucial les-son about the use of publicwords. Those in leadershipspend much time thinkingabout how their public utter-ances go down in their owncommunity. Words must alsobe chosen in full awareness oftheir likely impact on the dif-ferent groups hearing them

including those from theother community. That iswhere the greatest potentialfor healing or division can be.

So, are clergy interested inspeaking publicly for peace?The answer is more often yesthan we may acknowledge.

At a recent course run forProtestant and Catholic clergyin Belfast one participant putit like this: I like to see theChurch reaching across thecommunity and acting as ahealing force.

My vocation to the or-dained ministry was deeplyembedded in the feeling

that the Church couldreconciler.

Talking about unresolvvisions in Northern Irelacontinued: In some casChurch appears to be atator. I think there is apotential for us doing m

Being equipped to into the public space way of doing just that.

I began with one catphe. Let me finish wiother Rwanda in 1994.

Over 100 days almosmillion people, out of alation of eight millionmurdered in ethnic vioNeighbour was literallyby neighbour. What scaleft on a country whemuch atrocity has place?

One of the most amemories I have of a vRwanda in 2005 is of credible public voice foonciliation. It came government. It camefaith communities and came from all parts of ciciety.

The words may have but the message was am e. Al l s ec ti on s wounded country matheir business to speaklicly for reconciliation.

Words spoken into thlic space really do matte For further informatiwww.topstorey.org or cjmedia.org.uk

WHEN I arrived in 2007 I wasvery fortunate at thecathedral in having a small

nucleus of boys from the Downand Connor choir and a fantasticassistant, Helen Frame, who was

and still is invaluable.She was able to steer me in thedirection of good primary schoolswith strong musical leanings and Imet some really positive staff whowanted to be associated with thenew idea of establishing a boyschoir that would sing traditionalchurch music with a timelessrepertoire.

Once I had gathered this motleycrew of raw talent I had to turnthem into a unified bunch ofsingers and I can honestly say Icould not have done it without thehelp of the parents, without whosesupport we simply could not sur-vive as a choir.

One of my first tasks was to takethe boys and parents to London tolet them hear what an establishedchoir could sound like.

The boys attended Masses withthe London Oratory School Scholaat Brompton Oratory, a relativelynew choir, established in 1996, andwithin five years had recorded thesoundtracks for the Harry Potterand Lord of the Rings films.

We carried on rehearsing twice aweek, established a monthly re-cital and built up the repertoirefrom Haydn, Schubert and Mozart

Masses along with scormotets and anthems.

In July 2009 we toured singing at the Cathedral of Dame at the Internationaland St Etienne-du-Mont.

The ultimate tour mustbeen our trip to Rome in Junwhere we had the unique hof singing at thepapalPalliumon the Feast of St Peter and Sand also to sing for the Holy at the audience, where hknowledged the Schola Canof St Peters Cathedral Belfatheir praise of God in Song

Humbling indeed to be thby the Pope. How can wechoir better that affirmation

What lies ahead for the scThey are in the middle of rectheir first CD and plans are infor another trip to Paris.

My next ambition is to getto record for a film soundWho knows?

A new series Choirboyscontinues on Monday oBBC One Northern Irelfrom 10.35pm. It followthe Schola Cantorum f

St Peters Cathedral inBelfast. ChoirmasterNigel McClintock explhow far the choir has c

When they speak into thepublic square, are clergy andreligious leaders just voices inthe wilderness? Earl Storeythinks they could do better

Perhaps the most enticing option in adivided society is to say nothing at all,

even with many words