Apparently Mid-Ulster DUP MLA Ian McCrea has said that 'a majority of people in the North are Protestant and belong to denominations that believe the Pope is the anti-Christ', that the Catholic hierarchy has been complicit in sexual abuse cases and a Papal visit would "feel the vent of Protestant opposition".
Coming soon after similar promises of opposition from ex-DUP ministerial advisor Wallace Thompson, such comments are starting to show a pattern of DUP antagonism to a possible papal visit.
Such comments, though disgraceful, bigoted and hypocritical, are not surprising. Nobody who knows the DUP or its members would be surprised by the reaction. But the fact that the DUP is still the largest unionist party, and thus the preferred mouthpiece of a plurality of unionist voters, gives its bigotry extra significance. Unless the unionist electorate clearly rejects the DUP and its even more extreme cousin, the TUV, the only conclusion that nationalists and centrists can draw is that such bigotry is representative of unionism as a whole.
Civic unionists, church leaders, community leaders, business people and other influential members of the unionist community must speak out in opposition to the DUP's Neanderthal bigotry, and must make it clear that the pope, as head of the largest Christian denomination in Northern Ireland, is welcome to visit. Failure to do so will be seen as tacit agreement with the DUP.
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6 comments:
Where is the voice of the representatives of the ordinary Protestants in the North?
I am sure (?) that most protestants in the North are at least neutral on the subject of a papal visit!
Come on, let us hear from you!
Horseman, what evidence, either way, have you encountered on the subject of a visit.
MPG .....
To be honest, MPG, there seems to be little actual evidence. But then again, I'm sure these things are planned for a while in private before being unveiled.
Various people, with some reason to know, have said that he would not visit the north as part of a 'UK' visit, as for Catholic Church purposes the whole of Ireland is a single entity, and separate from Britain. Any spiritual visit would be to the island as a whole - or more likely, the visit in question will be to England and Wales only (which form one unit in the CC).
I think the extreme Protestants are getting a bit too worked up - but of course it gives the rest of us a good indication of what nastiness lurks within them.
Which part of the word PROTESTANT do people not understand? It is derived from those who protested against The Papacy. All reformed Christian churches including Anglican subscribe to this view in their constitutions.
It is those who welcome The Papacy who are apostate. And this applies regardless of what position they hold within their respective churches.
You see, Christ didn't win a popularity contest, he was in fact nailed to a cross, and he called upon his TRUE followers to make similar sacrifices for The TRUTH.
Those who throw insults at Protestants ('bigots', etc) are showing their true colors as the enemies of Reformed Christianity and the servants of Rome (knowingly or not).
I am a Nationalist from Lurgan. And I cant believe in the 21st century people still believe and argue over religion.
Follows of any religion are lemmings, plane and simple. Try to think for your selves.
If the Loyalists wanna use a Pope visit as an excuse to kill and intimidate Irish people, then it will be interesting to see if the Crowns police force has turn away from its old ways and does something about it.
This is just my personal view, but there is clearly no god, and clearly people that believe (Catholic and Proddy) need to seriously reevaluate their thought process.
malestripper, no nationalist gives a monkeys about religion, an you no it, only protestants care about religion, check the comments on this blog if you don't believe me
"No nationalist gives a monkeys about religion". Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I see, then why do all those Catholic churches stay open across Ireland? Or are they full of Unionists? From what I gather Catholic Church attendance is higher than Protestant Church attendance - so unless Catholic Unionism is even more prevalent than is currently thought, I'll have to take your statement with a pinch of salt...
I have heard it said before by the way...
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