The Church Times is the leading newspaper serving the Church of England. In its issue of 7 March, 2014, it starts its obituary of the Revd Desmond Parsons, with this statement:-
The Revd Desmond Parsons, who died on 20 January, aged 88, was a respected contributor to the Irish peace process, a former general secretary of Moor Park College for Christian Adult Education, and co-founder of the Farnham Christian Council in 1962, later Churches Together in Farnham.
Dr Roddy Evans, a member of Clonard Monastery’s Bible-study group since the 1970s, wrote: 'We owe so much to Desmond. The Good Friday Agreement, which brought the conflict to an end in Northern Ireland, was born in the Clonard Monastery in West Belfast. At one stage in the decades of civil war, what was urgently needed was an opening to England. The Government in London, for such a long time, continued to treat the situation as a matter of law and order.' Parsons, he claimed, had played a pivotal part in breaking the impasse, by opening a dialogue with Clonard.
A Clonard colleague of Dr Evans, Jim Lynn, spoke from his own experiences: 'The Revd Desmond Parsons made many visits to Belfast, as he was always interested in having dialogue with those whom no-one would speak to. He was an explorer of truth, and had a lifelong yearning for peace between England and Ireland.
'He was a man with no malice; a prince amongst men, who cared for my nation. When he goes to the judgement seat, and God asks him for his talent, I envisage Desmond opening his hand and saying: “Here is your talent; I have multiplied it as best I could,” and God will reply, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” The Revd Desmond Parsons was truly a peacemaker and bridgebuilder, and it was our privilege to walk for a time with him.'
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