Protest against the Papal visit - Part 2

The second part of the protest was a special service in Magdalen Chapel in Edinburgh. As the Pope was being received the Queen and representatives of the government we were marking the 450th anniversary of the overthrow of Pope in Scotland by John Knox in 1560. The first Reformed Church presbytery' meeting took place in Magdalen Chapel.

Rev Ron Johnstone, Moderator of Presbytery, preached on Psalm 20 v 5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners…

Outside the Magdalen Chapel

Ministers, elders, students & the Press outside Magdalen Chapel

Praise being offered to the Lord

Rev Ron Johnstone [Moderator] preaching

Protest against the Papal visit - Part 1

The first part of the protest against the papal visit was a Protestant rally held in out Rutherglen church in Glasgow on Wednesday evening. The meeting was advertised in the Glasgow Herald and there were some visitors at the service.

Rev John Greer preached on Christ the Mediator.

Outside of Rutherglen Free Presbyterian Church, Glasgow

Ministers, elders & students among the congregation

Preacher: Rev John Greer

No Pope here!

Reasons for opposing the papal visit to Scotland & England of Pope Benedict XVI

Primary grounds for objection

5. Spiritual. History is replete with the statements made by different Popes or else made by others about the Papacy. They were never shy in stating their claims. Rome might be a little embarrassed in modern times but these claims have never been denied or disowned. 

Cardinal Manning in a sermon in the Pro Cathedral, Kensington, and reported in the Tablet [weekly Catholic newspaper] Oct 9, 1864 said: [speaking the name of the Pope which was a rhetorical device]

I acknowledge no civil superior, I am the subject of no prince, and I claim more than this, I claim to be the supreme judge on earth and director of the consciences of men, I am the last supreme judge of what is right and wrong. 

The R.C. New York catechism stated: 

The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth…by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth. 

The Pope claims specific titles which belong alone to the persons of the Godhead. 

The Pope takes titles belonging to God the Father. 

[1] In past times the pope has styled himself as ‘our Lord God the Pope’. These words appear in Roman Canon Law: 

To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical. This feeds into the ancient idea that the Pope is God on earth. 

Pope Pius V [who excommunicated Elizabeth I] said: 

The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in heaven and earth. 

Pope Nicholas I declared that:
the appellation of God had been confirmed by Constantine on the Pope, who, being God, cannot be judged by man. 

Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical ‘The reunion of Christendom’ declared that the Pope holds: 

upon this earth the place of God Almighty. 

[2] The Pope styles himself as ‘Holy Father’. The title ‘Pope’ comes from the Greek and Latin word for 'father'. On the website detailing the itinerary of the visit this title is used for the pope: 

The Holy Father will then be based in London for the remainder of the visit. 

The Pope therefore usurps titles belonging to God the Father in the Scriptures, John 17:11:

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

The Pope takes titles belonging to God the Son. 

[1] He styles himself the ‘supreme pontiff of the universal church’. The Catechism of the Catholic Church No 882 states: 

For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire church has full, supreme and universal power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.

On a gate to the Vatican there is inscribed in Latin: Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff, in the year of Our Lord 2005, in the first year of his pontificate. The words ‘Supreme Pontiff’ in Latin are 'Pontifex Maximus'. 

This title means the Pope claims to rule over every church and over every Christian within every church without exception. He is not coming to Britain as head of the Roman Catholics. He comes claiming to the head of every professing Christian. 

Let me give you one example of the reach of this claim The Catholic Encyclopedia states the Pope: 

… has the right to interpret authentically the natural law. Thus, it is his to say what is lawful or unlawful in regard to social and family life. 

The Pope goes as far as to claim that he is the directer of men’s consciences. 

This title 'Pontifex Maximius' is a form of an old title that comes from pagan Rome. This title: Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. It was the most important position in the ancient Pagan Roman religion. 

[2] He styles himself as the way to God. An address made by the archbishops and bishops of Ireland to the pope in 1949 makes interesting reading: 

We the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland, prostrate at the feet of your Holiness, humbly offer you our warmest congratulations on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of your ordination to the priesthood… our thoughts go back to that great event fifty years ago by which your Holiness was taken from amongst men and appointed for men in the things that pertain to God, was made a minister of Christ and a dispenser of His mysteries, received power over the real and mystical body of our Saviour and became a mediator between God and man - another Christ. It is worth noting that these words are addressed to him as a Priest and not just as the pope. This is how Rome views every priest. Pope Pius IX said: I alone despite my unworthiness, am the successor of the Apostles, the Vicar of Jesus Christ; I alone have the mission to guide and direct the barque of Peter; I am the way, the Truth and the life. 

Pope Boniface VIII said: 

We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. 

These titles are not Biblical. We reject the pope’s blasphemous claims. He is usurping titles of the second person of the Trinity. We proclaim Jesus Christ as the sole King and only Head of the Church, Eph 5:22,23; 5:23; Col 1:18. Jesus Christ alone is the way to God, John 14:6. 

The Pope takes titles belonging to God the Holy Spirit. 

He styles himself the ‘vicar of Christ’. The word ‘vicar’ means ‘instead of’. The Catechism of the Catholic Church No 882 & 937 state respectively: 

For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, … ; 

The pope enjoys by divine institution supreme, full, immediate and universal power in the care of souls.

The Catholic Encyclopedia states regarding this title: 

A title of the pope implying his supreme and universal primacy, both of honour and of jurisdiction, over the Church of Christ.… the title Vicar of Christ is more expressive of his supreme headship of the Church on earth, which he bears in virtue of the commission of Christ and with vicarial power derived from Him. 

The Catholic church elevates the Pope to the position of ‘supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful’. The Pope claims to be the representative of Christ on earth, to act in His place and with His authority. 

The Popes first claimed to be ‘the vicar of Cæsar’. Imperial Rome moved the Emperor’s seat of government from Rome to Constantinople. The Pope claimed to take his place. In the 5th century they claimed to be ‘the vicar of prince of the apostles’. In the 8th century they went still further and styled themselves the ‘vicar of Christ’; and that on the basis of a document that was a forgery. 

This title was one of the three which formed what was known as the ‘The triple tiara’. It consisted of three crowns symbolising the triple power of the Pope: father of kings [temporal power], governor of the world [universal jurisdiction] and Vicar of Christ [universal pastor]. 

It is interesting that the last three popes have not been crowned in this fashion. At the end of the second session of the Second Vatican Council in 1963, Pope Paul VI descended the steps of the papal throne in St. Peter's Basilica and laid the tiara on the altar. He was supposedly renouncing his claims. Since then, none of his successors has worn a tiara. However Rome still claims that the Pope is the vicar of Christ. 

This is a title usurped from the Holy Spirit. He alone is the true vicar of Christ. To Him the care of souls has been entrusted by the second person of the Trinity. He has been sent in Christ’s name not the Pope, John 14:26; 15:26:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.

A fitting conclusion is the quotation for the Westminster Confession of Faith: 

There is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God. Chapter 25, section 6.

These blasphemous claims of the Pope must be resisted. They cannot be allowed to go by unchallenged. Let others remain silent if they must, it is the duty of Bible believers to speak out and say this is a denial of the Word of God. 

We therefore primarily protest against the Pope’s visit in fidelity to our God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Faithfulness to God requires that we speak out against this ‘blasphemous bachelor on the Tiber’ as W P Nicholson called many years ago. 

God has commissioned His people to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. We are not to stand by and let an idolator like Benedict XVI steal titles, and offices from God and apply them to himself. 

No Pope here!

Reasons for opposing the papal visit to Scotland & England by Pope Benedict XVI

4. Procedural. One of the reasons for the papal visit is the beautification of John Henry Newman.

Newman was originally an evangelical minister in the Church of England. In 1816 at the age of fifteen, during his last year at school, he professed to be have been converted. He later wrote that it was ‘more certain than that I have hands or feet’. He went on to be ordained into the Anglican Church in 1824 and professed to be a Calvinist, and held that the Pope was Antichrist. 

Over the next 8 years or so his views began to change and assume a High Church tone. He fervently opposed Non-conformity. 

Newman became a major figure in the Oxford Movement. Over these number of years he drifted towards High Church Anglicanism and on towards Romanism in his views. 'Tracts for the Times' became the publishing arm of the Oxford movement, which wished to return the Church of England to many High Church beliefs and forms of worship. Sometimes it was known as ‘Tractarianism’. 

He continued his work as a High Anglican controversialist until he had published, in 1841, Tract 90, the last of the series, which was a detailed examination of the Thirty-Nine Articles, suggesting that their oppositions were not directed against the authorised creed of Roman Catholics, but only against popular errors and exaggerations. 

Newman eventually converted to Roman Catholicism in 1840s. In February 1843, he published, as an advertisement in the Oxford Conservative Journal, an anonymous but otherwise formal retractation of all the hard things he had said against Rome In 1845 he opening converted to Romanism

He subsequently was made a Cardinal - 'a son of the Church'.

In 1991, Newman was proclaimed venerable by the Roman Church. This was after a thorough examination of his life and work by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. One miracle was investigated and confirmed by the Vatican, so he will be able to be beatified on 19th September 2010. A second miracle would then be necessary for his canonisation.

We repudiate this popish nonsense of making saints in this way. God alone is to be venerated. Peter would have no veneration when in Acts 10:25,26 he told Cornelius to stand up: 

And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

It is Christ that a sinner needs to help them and no one. Newman or any other saint or Mary or any pope are useless. The New Testament message is forgiveness through Jesus Christ alone, Acts 13:38,39:

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Jesus Christ justifies from all things. If that is so, and it is, then there is no need for the help of any worthless saint like Newman. 

Saints are not made this way. In fact every believer is a saint of equal standing for there is no respecting of persons with God.

No Pope Here!

Reasons for opposing the papal visit to Scotland & England of Pope Benedict XVI:

3. Constitutional - The Act of Settlement safeguards the British throne from being Catholic again. This Act was passed in 1701 at the end of the reign of King William III when his successor to the throne Anne had lost her only surviving child. 

It was then felt expedient to bring in a law that only Protestants in communion with the Church of England should be allowed to sit on the throne. One of the consequences of the Act was to bring the house of Hanover into the line of accession in front of fifty-seven other people under the normal rules of inheritance. This eventually led to George I coming to the throne in 1714. In effect it brought to Stuart dynasty to an end. 

Clause 9 of the Acts of Settlement reads: 

Whereas it has been found by experience that is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant Kingdom to be governed by a Popish Prince or by any King or Queen marrying a Papist. 

Our forefathers learned by bitter experience that freedom and liberty are in danger when Romanism is in the ascendency. It is essential that we understand the underlying motivation in this Constitutional settlement. The title is it gives us the key. It is an Act: 

… declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and settling the Succession of the Crown. 

The Act of Settlement is there to protect the liberties of the citizens. 

Rome has a long history of terror in our nation. There were hundreds of Protestant martyrs who lost their lives at the hand of popish rulers in this United Kingdom. There are scores of martyrs sites all over England marking this sad legacy. 

The most barbaric period was the during the reign of bloody Queen Mary 1553 -1558. During her reign, she repaired the severed relationship with Rome and returned England to Catholicism. Many Protestants who opposed Mary’s actions were exiled, and nearly 300 dissenters were burned at the stake, earning her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. 

The memory of the Reformers and the martyrs would compel us to resist the papal visit. This is the institution that put those martyrs to death. Rome hasn’t changed one iota, therefore we resist the pope’s claims and say no Pope here.

No Pope Here!

Reasons for opposing the papal visit to Scotland & England of Pope Benedict XVI:

2. Moral - There is a stain and a stench in recent years on the character of Romanism over child abuse and it reaches right up the chain of authority to the Vatican.

Rome is a hierarchal system. The local priest is under the bishop, who is under the archbishop, who in turn is under the Pope. It is the Pope who appoints bishops. It is the Pope who sacks a bishop and no one else. 

The present Pope has shown a complete unwillingness to deal with these issues. That is not the view of biased Protestants. That is view even of Roman Catholics. Many are ashamed of what has been taking place in their institutions for many years. 

There was a recent example of the present Pope’s unwillingness to deal with these matters. This unwillingness was widely reported. One such report is found in the Catholic Herald on 12th August this year: 

Pope Benedict XVI has decided not to accept the resignation of two Dublin auxiliary bishops who resigned in the wake of the Murphy Report investigation into clerical child abuse in the archdiocese [of Dublin. The Ryan report was into religious orders] 

Auxiliary Bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh resigned on December 24 after coming under intense pressure because they served as bishops during the period investigated by the Murphy Commission. In a letter to priests of the Dublin archdiocese, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin confirmed the development. 

Following the presentation of their resignations to Pope Benedict, it has been decided that Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bishop Raymond Field will remain as auxiliary bishops,” he said. Archbishop Martin said the two men are “to be assigned revised responsibilities within the diocese.” Both bishops initially resisted calls for their resignation. However, both sent resignation letters to Rome after Archbishop Martin apparently failed to give them his total support. 

Even the Archbishop of Dublin couldn’t fully support these two bishops when the Murphy report came out, yet the Pope refused their resignations. 

There are allegations coming out of Munich were Joseph Ratzinger was Archbishop from 1977 of personal involvement in covering up abuse. 

In 1981, Ratzinger settled in Rome where he became the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important offices within the Vatican. 

Prior to 2001, the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of sexual abuse and disciplining perpetrators rested with the individual dioceses. In 2001, Ratzinger convinced Pope John Paul II to put the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in charge of all investigations and policies surrounding sexual abuse in order to combat such abuse more efficiently. 

In other words Ratzinger ‘was in the know’ about what was going on in recent years. It is said that he was a notorious micro-manger. He wanted to know everything that was going on in the Catholic Church worldwide. Is it logical to conclude he was unaware of these things? I think not!

The two faced nature of Rome

This is becoming a bit of a habit. I find myself in agreement again with Eamonn McCann. [He also raised the issue about the parades' legislation that thankfully is going to be changed]

In the Belfast Telegraph he writes about the two faced nature of Rome:

Why the Vatican's diplomatic immunity days are numbered

Now you Holy See him, now you don't. One minute, Benedict XVI is a head of state, like Elizabeth II, Omar al-Bashir or Emperor Akihito.

Then, in an instant, shazam!, he's the leader of a religious organisation, on a par with the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rev Ron Johnstone.

Maybe he cannot be in two places at the one time, but he can be two personages in the one place.

His sojourn to Britain, beginning on Thursday week, will have the status both of a state visit and a pastoral journey.

On some stopovers he will be the representative of a state recognised at the UN and enjoying diplomatic relations with, at the last count, 156 countries.

His role at other engagements will be as leader of a religion with 1.2 billion followers scattered across the planet.

The potential political advantages of this double status are fairly obvious. But it does raise the question: how come?

Why is it that, uniquely among religious leaderships, the Holy See can also bestride the world of diplomacy and politics?

Read the rest of the article

Lying comes naturally to McGuinness

It transpires after all that Martin McGuinness did know of the IRA priest James Chesney. 

McGuinness has denied for many years ever knowing him. In 2002, he issued a statement to BBC Northern Ireland current affairs programme Spotlight, saying: 

I have never met Father Chesney, nor do I have any knowledge of him other than from media reports.

Yesterday McGuinness acknowledged that he did know Chesney after all and had met him before he died in 1980. Therefore his statement to the spotlight programme was a blatant lie to cover up what he knew.

Anything that this IRA godfather says purporting to be the truth is worthless. It is like Adams' denial of being in the IRA. Their trade has been murder and lying comes naturally!

McGuinness would have us to believe that they never discussed the Claudy bombing. Maybe they had so many other IRA matters to discuss there wasn't time. McGuinness was high up in the IRA, Chesney was believed to a quartermaster and was dying. I suppose there was a fair bit of information to pass on before Chesney went out into eternity to answer for his wickedness. 

Thankfully there is a day coming when every wicked act will be brought to light. The Judge of all the earth shall do right. There will be no hiding place for McGuinness on that day. 

Built on lies!

Tony Blair's memoirs make the claim that he 'stretched the truth past breaking point' in order to get unionists into an agreement with the political representatives of the IRA.

In one way this is not startling. Anyone who has lived in this Province and observed the political process over these past years will readily recognise the point he makes.

In another way it is very serious. The Word of God makes a very telling observation about the type of conduct that Tony Blair openly acknowledges he has engaged in:

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth, 1 John 2:21.

That which is built upon lies does not have the favour of God. Rather it will have the displeasure of God. The present political arrangements in this Province will only bring down upon us even more chastisement from God.

Tony Blair's comments are just further proof, if it was needed, that those who oppose the representatives of the IRA being in government are right.

C S Lewis - A Bridge to Rome

In studying to preach on why we oppose the papal visit I came across a very interesting article on C S Lewis and his influencing of a number of individuals towards Romanism written by Mrs Jill Saunders wife of Dr Larry Saunders, minister of Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.

To think that professing evangelicals quote this man is staggering!

Click here to read the article C S Lewis - A Bridge to Rome.

No Pope Here!

Reasons for opposing the papal visit to Scotland & England of Pope Benedict XVI:

1. Financial. The argument is well put by the report in the Belfast Telegraph of an online survey done by the public theology think tank Theos:

More than 75 per cent of Britons think the taxpayer should not contribute to the cost of Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to Scotland and England, according to a survey published today. An online poll of 2,005 adults has shown 77% do not agree that the taxpayer should help shoulder the bill for the four-day trip even though it is a state visit. A similar proportion - 76% - rejected taxpayer funding for the visit on the grounds that he is a religious figure.

The findings were issued by Theos, the public theology think tank, as the Pope is due to arrive in Edinburgh on September 16, the first Papal visit to Britain since Pope John Paul II's 1982 trip. The survey, conducted in August, shows widespread apathy in Britain towards 83-year-old Pope Benedict's arrival with 79% saying they have "no personal interest" in his visit.

Nearly one in four - 24% - agreed with the statement "I don't approve of the Pope's visit to Britain" with just under a half, or 49%, disagreeing.

Read the rest of the article here.

The cost for the pope's visit to Britain is ever increasing. Hard pressed taxpayers will have to contribute as much as £12m towards the four-day event. This is an increase of £4m on previous estimates.

No other religious/political leader would get treatment like this!

Stephen Hawking, God & Creation

In a new book Stephen Hawking has said that God is not needed to create the universe. He believes the laws of physics were behind the Big Bang instead. Read more here

According to Hawking: 'because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing… Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist… It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.

His reasoning begs the simple question: where did the laws of physics come from that brought about the big bang? Or did these laws spontaneously appear as well?

It is simply ludicrous to believe in spontaneous creation. It is contrary to logic and good sense and was disproved a long time ago through the work of the Creationist Louis Pasteur.

There is no evidence for it. This is just the wild speculation of scientists who seek to eliminate God from the origin of the universe. We are always being told that the evidence supports evolution. So where is the evidence of spontaneous creation? 

Something cannot come into existence out of nothing. A living organism cannot come into existence out non living matter. Matter cannot come into existence out of non matter. 

Something or someone has to be eternal. Everything else has come from the eternal source. The Bible believer acknowledges that God is eternal. He created the world out of nothing:
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear, Heb 11:3.

The following challenge to the BBC appeared on the Peter Hitchens feature page of the International Express 5/1/00:
The BBC teased religious leaders by asking them if they believed in the literal truth of the great bible stories. I would like to ask BBC chiefs and the rest of our secular establishment if they believe in the literal truth of evolution. Evolution is an unproven theory. If what its fundamental supporters say is true, fishes decided to grow lungs and legs and walk up the beach. The idea is so comically daft that only one thing explains its survival - that lonely, frightened people wanted to expel God from the universe because they found the idea that He exists profoundly uncomfortable.

Northern Ireland society suffering 'breakdown'

The Belfast Telegraph is reporting the findings of a study carried out by the Centre for Social Justice. The report has concluded that: 

Society in Northern Ireland is breaking down, with soaring levels of unemployment, family splits, mental illness and addiction.

This influential centre-right organisation also acknowledges that the conflict had contributed to the current problems, but said many of the issues were also evident in other parts of the UK.

Sadly there is one cause that is overlooked and never mentioned in these types of study. It is namely the forsaking of God and His truth that had taken place in society. 

The Word of God reminds us that:

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people, Proverbs 14:34.

How much of the breakdown in society is attributable to following after sin. Sin is a hard taskmaster. It ruins lives and homes. 

The report assures everyone that the situation is reversible. It is however only reversible with a return to Bible religion. Man does not have the answer to his greatest problem and need. No government policy or initiative will ever cure the problem for they are only dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause. 

The remedy is outlined for us in the Word of God. Jeremiah the prophet told the people of his day what they needed to do to arrest a similar decline: 

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…, Jeremiah 6:16.

How many more are dead thanks to Chesney & this cover up?

The summary of the report on the Claudy bombing makes damning reading:

6.5 Extensive police Intelligence received after the bombings details allegations that Father Chesney was involved in acts of terrorism, including the bombing of Claudy. It also connects him to terrorist activities with Man A, who left the jurisdiction after being arrested and interviewed by police. The Intelligence further identifies Father Chesney as the IRA’s Director of Operations for the South Derry Area.

6.6 This compelling Intelligence picture should have led police to pursue further investigative opportunities in respect of Father Chesney, which might have either implicated him in or eliminated him from the enquiry. Certainly police officers involved in the investigation wished to pursue these enquiries but such decisions were deferred to a senior RUC Officer.

6.7 The Police Ombudsman’s investigation has found that a senior RUC Officer corresponded with the NIO, requesting that the Government raise with the Catholic Church their grave concerns in relation to Father Chesney.

6.8 This documentary evidence and historical records supplied by the Catholic Church reveal that the Secretary of State, Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw, and Cardinal William Conway, met on 5 December 1972. The evidence indicates that at the end of the meeting a private discussion, initiated by the Secretary of State, took place between both men, during which the Father Chesney issue was discussed.

6.9 The following day the NIO wrote to police stating that the Cardinal would ‘see what could be done’ and had ‘mentioned the possibility of transferring him to Donegal’.

6.10 This correspondence was shared with and accepted by the then Chief Constable of the RUC, Sir Graham Shillington, who on 11 December 1972, recorded the note; ‘Seen. I would prefer transfer to Tipperary’. Other senior RUC officers also had sight of the correspondence.

6.11 From information made available to the Police Ombudsman’s investigation by the Catholic Church it is evident that Cardinal Conway again met with the Secretary of State on 4 February 1973. During this meeting the Cardinal informed the Secretary of State, Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw, that the allegations relating to Father Chesney’s activities had been raised with the priest by his ‘Superior’ and ‘a colleague’ but that he had denied any involvement. Cardinal Conway records that the ‘Superior’ had told Father Chesney to remain where he was convalescing following an illness. The Police Ombudsman’s investigation believes that Father Chesney was in County Donegal at this time.

6.12 Father Chesney was eventually appointed to a parish in Donegal in late 1973. He was never again appointed to a parish in Northern Ireland. He is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity. Father Chesney died in 1980.

The unanswered and unanswerable question is: how many other innocent people lost their lives so that a priest might be protected? Thankfully there is a higher court where none will escape answering for their crimes.  

Another question is this: Is it not simply impossible for Martin McGuinness who was in the higher ranks of the IRA not to have known about the activities of Chesney? I think not!

Maybe McGuinness' new found political associates and partners in government could ask him that question! 

The words of condemnation ring a little hollow when they come from people who now prop up this wicked government with the IRA at its heart. You can't really condemn the atrocities committed over the years of the troubles while sitting in government with the perpetrators of those same wicked acts.

A house divided against itself can not stand, Matt 12:25. 

Open-airs spared inclusion in new parades legislation

If the report in today's Newsletter is accurate then open-airs and other public meetings and protests will be exempt from the new legislation. 

The reports states that there were 410 responses, with many of them arguing against the inclusion of public meetings in this draft legislation. 

This is welcome news. Thankfully common sense has prevailed. However, it is worth remembering that this type of restrictive legislation should never have been entertained in the first place. 

We highlighted this issue some time ago.

See here: An attack upon our civil & religious liberities

& here - Row flares of Church meetings

Protest against Gay Pride parade in Belfast

A few photographs taken at the Free Presbyterian protest against the Gay Pride parade in Belfast last Saturday.

Obscene advice!!

The obscene suggestion has been put forward by N.I.C.E, [The National Institute for Clinical Excellence] that children as young as five should receive 'sex education'. Read the whole article here.

N.I.C.E is to write to every primary school telling it to start sex education when pupils are five. It is worth remembering that the main role of this body is to ration NHS drugs. It is no wonder that this advice is being offered when you see that representatives of the Brook Clinics and of the sodomite pressure group 'Stonewall' were on the panel that drew up these recommendations. 

Among their wicked claims is that teaching children to ‘say no’ could actually increase the chances of risky sexual behaviour and pregnancy. It further calls on teachers to offer children confidential sex advice if they need it – without their parents being told. 

Critics have accused the body of pressuring schools to push the boundaries on sex education and said the guidance undermined traditional values. 

Norman Wells, of pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said: ‘The team that drafted the guidance included lobby groups with an agenda to break down moral standards and redefine the family. Organisations with a commitment to marriage and traditional family values were not represented.’ 

Margaret Morrissey, of lobby group Parents Out Loud, said: ‘They tell me that once you give indepth information about sex and drugs, 90 per cent will go and experiment – and there’s no way back from that.’

The report concludes that sex and relationships education is ‘more effective if it is introduced before young people first have sex’

This is an outrageous claim and one not backed up by the facts. There has been a consistent determined effort over many years to lower the age when 'sex education' is taught. The outcome has been to make Britain’s teenage pregnancy rate the highest in western Europe. This approach does not work. There will be no solving of this problem without a moral foundation based upon the teaching of the Word of God. 

This is another good reason for Christian Education!

Northern Ireland Charity Commission criticised

The Christian Institute has again highlighted criticism that the CCNI are facing from Church groups.

Church leaders in Northern Ireland, in a series of open letters, have warned that the Charity Commission’s draft guidance could threaten the charitable status of churches.

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is due to publish its final ‘public benefit’ guidance soon, having consulted on a draft version of the text.

The draft was widely criticised, and many Christian leaders remain concerned that the CCNI has gone beyond its remit and endangered the charitable status of churches.

Read whole article here

This ties in with the feelings of an Education Board of Presbytery commission which met a representative of the Charity Commission to discuss concerns we had about the status of our Independent Christian Schools. 

A report of the meeting was carried in the School Newsletter printed by the Education Board:

Meeting with Charity Commission for N.I. 

Six members of the Presbytery Education Board met with two representatives of the new Charity Commission on Thursday 26th November 2009. The new Charity Act 2008, which will shortly come into law, will bring a number of major changes for all our Churches and Schools. 

A consultation period was allowed up to the end of November for charities and other interested bodies to make their views known. 

Two main areas of concern were: 

1. Would the 'affordability and accessibility' requirements of the 'Public Benefit Test', which all charities must undergo, affect our schools? 

2. Would the requirements that charities do not engage in that which is 'harmful' and/or to the 'detriment' of society impact our Schools and Churches? It was felt that this law could be used against our Schools or Churches when they set forth the Biblical teaching on subjects such as: 'hell' or moral issues like 'sodomy'. 

While those present came away to a degree reassured by the comments made by the Charity Commission representative, it was felt that this rule on 'harm' and 'detriment' will one day be used against charities that stand for the principles of the Word of God. 

A written submission was subsequently sent in outlining our views and concerns. 

The Christian Institute has raised the added issue of the absence of any recognition that evangelism is an essential aspect of the work of any Christian Charity. 

Please pray that these concerns will be taken on board and included in the final guidance that is issued by the Commission. 

London University's external degree programme & Christian Education

Part of being a Trainee teacher in one of our seven Independent Christian Schools is the requirement to obtain an external degree from a recognizable university such as London University or The Open University. 

As part of the ongoing discussion about the cost of third level education in the UK the BBC has posted a very informative article about the external degree programme of London University. 

At present there are 45,500 students worldwide studying in this fashion with London University. It has been operating like this for 150 years. Charles Dickens called it 'the people's university'. 

It is in part an encouraging vindication of the decision taken many years ago to commence our own training scheme for perspective teachers in our schools by using this programme:

1. Degrees obtained through this external programme cost much less;

2. They are every bit as 'prestigious'.

The article reads:

Universities must find more flexible and cheaper ways to teach, the government has said. Expanding chances for students to study long-distance is one such proposal.

For 150 years, the University of London has allowed students unable to travel to the capital to study for one of its external degrees - a system Charles Dickens described as "the people's university".

Notable alumni include Nelson Mandela, who studied while incarcerated on Robben Island, and five other Nobel Prize winners.

It currently has 45,500 students studying by distance and flexible learning in 180 countries, with another 6,000 students in the UK.

This is in addition to the tens of thousands of students - the majority - who study at the university's 19 colleges and institutions in the capital.

Now it is being heralded as a model for other institutions to follow, a way of increasing accessibility to higher education, without breaking the bank.

Read the whole article here

Link to London's University's external degree programme

Hat-tip to my wife who pointed this article out to me. 

Presbyterian Church asked to join new ecumenical body for all of Ireland

The editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis has asked the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to become even more ecumenical and join with a new body which includes the Roman Catholic Church.

The Irish Times carried the following report:

Church urged to join new body 

THE PRESBYTERIAN Church has been asked to reconsider its 1999 decision not to take part in “a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church”. 

In a statement, editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis also pointed out that “there were no doctrinal issues that could have prevented the Presbyterian Church from being part of the new body”. He said “the negative decision of the 1999 General Assembly brought dismay to other churches”. 

Welcoming the Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Norman Hamilton’s “emphasis on tackling sectarianism and affirming the church’s role in building better community relations” in his first address to the General Assembly in Belfast, Canon Ellis said that “as far as church relations are concerned, we also need to be looking to a shared church future”. It was for that reason he was appealing to the Presbyterian Church to reconsider its 1999 decision not to proceed with a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church. 

Earlier, the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Rev Stafford Carson, said he was “very moved” by a recent observation of the Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. 

Speaking in his last address as Moderator to the Presbyterian General Assembly Dr Carson quoted from Archbishop Martin’s speech in Dublin last month to the Knights of Columbanus. 

Dr Carson said: ‘Our young people are among the most catechised in Europe but among the least evangelised . . . This immediately brings us to the deeper question about the level of understanding of the message of Jesus Christ which exists in our Catholic Church and in our society in Ireland today. What do we really know of the message of Jesus?’

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is with an ecumenical non-evangelical new moderator just recently installed.

First summer open-air of 2010

Last night we had our first summer open-air of 2010. These take place after our Lord's day evening service and continue DV through June, July & August as weather permits. May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word. 

Free Presbyterian Statement on the Pope's visit

At a meeting on Friday June 4th we the ministers and elders of the Free Presbyterian church affirmed our determination to oppose the proposed visit of Pope Benedict to the United Kingdom in September.

As Reformed Evangelical Protestants we totally reject the arrogant and more importantly unscriptural titles and claims of the Pope.

Those claims, historically viewed as spurious and blasphemous by Protestant churches, mean that his visit can not be construed as simply pastoral.

We publicly disassociate ourselves from and condemn those church leaders who will welcome and meet with him. By their actions they not only give credence to his spurious claims but are betraying the very creeds they once professed to believe, teach and defend.

We intend, in the coming weeks, to highlight the contrast between the teaching of scripture and the false doctrines of the papacy.

Our supreme aim and overriding concern is to exalt the Only King and Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We will therefore, at this time, call all people to a personal faith in the Saviour as the Only Mediator between God and men.

The Belfast Newsletter has carried details of the statement here

Pope's visit in trouble - Amen to that!

It is being reported that the Pope's visit to England and Scotland is in trouble financially. 

The Daily Telegraph is reporting:

Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit to Britain is in disarray as the costs spiral and doubts increase over the schedule. The part of the bill that must be paid by the Roman Catholic church is now being put at as much as £14 million, twice the earlier estimate, which could lead to events being scaled down or even cancelled.

Read more

May the Lord be pleased to answer prayer that the visit is cancelled.

The significance of Greece in the Prophetic Scriptures

The debt problems that Greece and other Europeans nations are facing have sparked off considerable discussion about whether the Euro will survive or not.

Part of this is due to the scepticism of Germany towards bailing out lesser performing European countries. Their hard won economic strength is at stake because of the failings of these other countries. To the extent that it is being reported that secretly Germany has begun to re-print the Deutsche Mark.

Greece is of interest to Bible believers and readers of the prophetic Scriptures.

As I have listened to various news reports over these past weeks about the problems facing the Euro currency I have been made to think about some things that the book of Daniel has to say about the state of south-eastern European nations immediately prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Daniel ch 8 emphasises the importance of keeping our eye upon the countries of south-eastern Europe and particularly Greece.