The Christian Churches should jointly tackle the 'Me More' syndrome of Western Capitalism, according to the Church of Ireland Primate.
Speaking in Dublin's Catholic Pro-Cathedral, Archbishop Alan Harper also said Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox would falter in efforts to build Christian unity if they put purely internal objectives first.
He was speaking after the Roman Catholic Church broke a generation-old bogey by being admitted to the Dublin Council of Churches.
Delivering his first sermon as Archbishop of Armagh in the Republic's principal Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Harper was flanked by representatives of 13 other churches.
He told the opening ceremony of the capital's celebrations of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that churches had stalled in their progress toward unity.
But he urged them to unite to combat obesity, binge drinking and profligacy in western society, as we discover that conspicuous consumption brings no contentment.
Meanwhile, a 44-year-old impasse was broken when it was announced that the Catholic Church had become a full member of the Dublin Council of Churches.
The breakthrough was announced by the Romanian Orthodox, Fr Godfrey O'Donnell the Council's chairman.
Dublin's Catholic Archbishop, Dr Diarmuid Martin, who had encouraged the initiative, warmly welcomed the development as a sign of the vitality and the warmth of inter-church relationships throughout the diocese when many were claiming that ecumenical dialogue had slowed down.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
