Catholic and Protestant Religious Leaders as Peacebuilders in Postconflict Northern Ireland: Three Peacebuilding Roles
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In postconflict Northern Ireland, religious leaders play a key role engaging with those on the political, economic, and social margins of civil society with whom state actors either cannot or will not engage with themselves. Using data from 26 interviews with senior religious leaders, diplomats, and politicians, this paper argues that through this engagement, religious leaders contribute to the peace process by (1) representing views of the marginalized, (2) holding power accountable, and (3) exemplifying five civil skills; namely, (a) principled leadership, (b) partnership, (c) pity, (d) maintaining privacy, and (e) engaging in persuasion. Knowledge of this new typology and of how religious leaders connect with the margins can enable more effective collaboration between secular and religious peacebuilders. It can also improve our understanding of how religious leaders conceive of their own role and how they navigate a postconflict environment, where disputes are mislabeled as primarily religious as opposed to political.
Author: Tom P. J. Parkin
Institution: University of Sheffield
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,400
Funder: University of Sheffield
OpenAlex ID: W7123959727