Archdeacon Gordon Linney
Posted on 07. Nov, 2013, in Church of IrelandComments Off on Archdeacon Gordon Linney
In this second part of a 2 part interview Paul Loughlin discusses the ongoing fury over comments made by the COI Archbishop Jackson in relation to sectarianism.
Seldom has an essentially internal matter within the Church of Ireland attracted so much media attention. It arose when the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most reverend Michael Jackson, told representatives of his clergy and lay people that sectarianism was alive in their midst. There was an immediate and angry reaction among the Church of Ireland community and much criticism of the Archbishop mostly in the reportage and letter pages of the Irish Times but also the Irish edition of the Sunday Times. Two of Archbishop Jackson’s predecessors publicly criticised him. Next came the phrase “polyester Protestants” a contemptuous term applied to those not members of the Church of Ireland from birth. In an Irish Times opinion column Archbishop Jackson wrote that this insulting phrase has been reported to him as being used by members of his church. A fresh storm of criticism ensued as members of the Church of Ireland denied ever having heard of such a thing. However, as things calm down people are beginning to think that the debate, if it continues in a less inflamed way, may be no bad thing. Church of Ireland people may like to think of themselves as liberal, tolerant and open-minded. But are they? Paul Loughlin put the question to the Reverend Gordon Linney, now retired after eighteen years as Archdeacon of Dublin.
In “Would you agree that…”
Out “…lay and ordained.”
Total Time = 7:36