Church Leaders Call On Politicians To Help Those Most In Need.

Ireland’s church leaders have called for further Government support for people struggling with the current cost-of-living crisis.
The cry for help has come from the heads of the Catholic Church; the Church of Ireland; the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches and the Irish Council of Churches, who are asking for immediate practical measures to be implemented, with a refocusing of government policy on eliminate poverty.

President of the Irish Council of Churches, Rev. Andrew Forster, highlighted incidents of where people are asking for food from food banks that do not require cooking, as they cannot afford the electricity for their cooker.

Rev. Forster further stated, “We’re really moving into unprecedented times, and as we move into the winter, things can only get worse. We all know how heating costs have risen hugely and we’re moving in double-digit inflation figures. So, what, as a group of church leaders we are doing, is asking not just Government, but all of us in society to redouble our efforts to help those who are most vulnerable now.”

In a joint statement, Church leaders have said, “As leaders of Churches with a presence across Ireland, we are deeply concerned by what we are seeing on the ground, with the increasing energy and food prices disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable, often leaving people with impossible choices to make, missing meals, and falling into arrears on bills”.

The statement was signed by Most Reverend Eamon Martin (Catholic Primate of All Ireland); Most Reverend John McDowell (Church of Ireland Primate); Right Reverend Dr John Kirkpatrick (Presbyterian Moderator); Reverend David Nixon (Methodist President), as well as Bishop Andrew Forster (President of the Irish Council of Churches).

Bishop Forster (Bishop of Derry and Raphoe) stated, “Politics really matters when it comes to putting food on people’s tables and that’s where the struggle is at the moment, and what we’re doing is calling on leadership right across society to redouble effort to deliver help to those most in need”.