John Coulter with one of his regular columns from the Irish Daily Star. It earlier featured in Newshound on 13 April 13, 2014.
Pope Francis needs to come to Ireland as soon as possible!
The Catholic faith, and indeed the entire Christian Church, is in crisis and Christendom needs a 'big hitter' on the Emerald Isle to knock sense in Ireland's warring clergy.
There will always be elements on both sides of the sectarian divide who would welcome a papal visit to Ireland like a hole in the head.
Protestantism's lunatic fundamentalist fringe, known as the 'fundies', will oppose Pope Francis because they see him as the so-called Biblical Anti Christ.
Perhaps these tub thumpers could point out the Scriptural verse where Pope Francis, or the role of pontiff, is actually named as the Anti Christ?
Then there's the 'red brigade' in republicanism – lapsed Catholics who have turned their backs on the Catholic faith and embraced the idiotic teachings of Godless Marxism.
Sections of the Prods-only Orange Order are also getting their red, white and blue knickers in a twist at the thought of the Holy Father setting foot in Loyal Ulster.
But a papal trip north would help the Prod Marching Orders get a real focus on their supposed Christian identity and ethos.
When a Prod joins the Orange, during the ceremony – dubbed 'Riding The Goat' – the applicant must pledge to uphold the Qualifications.
These clearly state: "He should by all lawful means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, its encroachments, and the extension of its power, ever abstaining from all uncharitable words, actions, or sentiments, towards his Roman Catholic Brethren."
Perhaps Pope Francis could remind the Order of its obligations towards "all lawful means" – that is, obeying the rulings of the Parades Commission over Drumcree and the Ardoyne Shops.
And it's clear from the joining oath that fellow Catholics are to be treated as "brethren" too. This means the lodges should insist that accompanying bands don't hammer out The Sash, or Derry's Walls as they pass Catholic chapels.
But the real benefit of a papal visit would be for the Irish Catholic Church. The Irish bishops, like the fictitious 'Bishop Brennan' from the hit comedy, Father Ted, need a kick up the arse regarding clerical sex abuse, and allegations of cover-ups.
The word 'priest' must come to mean a term of respect and trust within the community; not the abbreviated jibe – Paedophile Ring In Every Small Town!
The Irish Catholic Church is in crisis. The abuse scandals have seen thousands of chapel-attendees abandon the pews.
While many Catholics are still retaining their Christian faith and moving to the growing Pentecostal movement in Ireland, even more Catholics are leaving the Christian faith entirely.
The Pope needs to kick start the Christian faith again in Ireland and see a spiritual revival which St Patrick's brought to these shores.
How many young people do not want to join holy orders, become clerics, nuns, or reverends for fear of being falsely branded a paedophile?
The Pope must allow celibacy to be optional, allowing clerics and nuns to marry. He must restore faith in the clergy.
Pope Francis has set out his moral stall clearly against gay marriage. He has kept the Catholic Church firm on this conviction, while Prod denominations such as the Unitarians, and elements of Anglicans have ditched Biblical teaching on homosexuality.
Loyalists should remember that Pope Alexander held a Te Deum celebration on learning of King Billy's Boyne victory.
Hopefully on his visit to Ireland, Pope Francis will dedicate a memorial to King Billy's Dutch Royal Blues, the elite Catholic Orange troops who sealed William's victory in July 1690.
But first of all, we need to get Big Frank to Ireland before Islamic radicals generate the spin that to bring him to the Emerald Isle would be a gross insult to Allah and Mohammed. Time is not on the pontiff's side.
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Another sectarian head count and little else should the visit come to pass. Massive crowds on show, could be an eye opener. Robinsons recent remark about demographics was more interesting. Unionists should be looking for converts rather than Lundies in their undies. All this would point towards SF 'super strategists' (Mac Tire)having got it all perfectly correct and steering us toward a soft landing to a united Ireland. Believe that at your peril I would suggest. Anyhow, get the big Papa here to we see what 51% of the norn iron population looks like in a huge field!! CAN'T WAIT.
ReplyDeletejohn, on the subject of homosexuality, was king william of orange really queen billy of pink.
ReplyDeletequeen lily-the-pink?
ReplyDeletelarry, from the daily telegraph 2008, plenty of food for thought in this piece (and for vomiting) -
ReplyDeleteVatican 'bans' book revealing 'secret' of pope
William III of Orange allegedly received 'huge sums' from the pope
By Malcolm Moore in Rome4:30PM GMT 19 Mar 2008
Two bestselling authors have accused the Vatican of blacklisting them in Italy after they discovered secret documents that suggest that a pope had funded William of Orange, a Protestant hero.
Rita Monaldi and her husband Francesco Sorti have sold more than a million copies of their historical novel Imprimatur across Europe.
The novel, which will be published in Britain in May, tells the story of Atto Melani, an Italian castrato and spy at the court of Louis XIV of France in the 17th century.
However, Imprimatur was dropped by Mondadori, its Italian publisher, after the first print run of 15,000 copies, despite reaching number four on the bestseller list on its release in 2002.
Mr Sorti said Mondadori decided not to reprint the book because of pressure from the Vatican.
"The book sold out immediately, and then people started to contact us to say that they wanted to buy a copy, but could not find it," said Mr Sorti.
"We contacted Mondadori, and they said they would reprint it, but nothing ever happened."
The authors said the problems arose because they found documents in both the Vatican Secret Archive and the Italian State Archives which suggest that William of Orange was receiving huge sums of money from Rome.
In 1672, Louis had occupied the Netherlands. William led the resistance and, allied with Catholic Spain and Austria, drove out the French.
William, who became King of Britain in 1689, has been revered in Ulster for centuries for his "Glorious Revolution", which drove James II, a Roman Catholic, from the throne.
He gives his name to the loyalist Orange Order.
Mr Sorti and Ms Monaldi said they found documents from a papal envoy discussing the "large sums" that William owed Pope Innocent XI.
Corresponding documents from Innocent's family records show that the Holy See sent 150,000 scudi to William via an intermediary. The sum, equivalent to more than £3.5 million today, equalled the Vatican's annual budget deficit.
"When we found the documents we had already started to write the book, but we decided to include the discovery as part of the storyline," said Ms Monaldi.
However, the revelation that Innocent was supporting a heretic and enemy of the Church embarrassed the Holy See and was seen as an impediment to Innocent's path to sainthood.
The Vatican began the canonisation process in 2002, at roughly the same time as the book was published. When the book came out, it was strongly criticised by leading Catholics and by the media.
Since then, Mr Sorti said he and his wife had been forced to leave Italy and settle in Vienna. "There has been real hysteria over it. People told us we were criminals," he said.
He added that a media black-out had descended in Italy. "There is a type of auto-censorship in Italy. When people know that a subject is risky, they avoid it at all costs," he said.
"Evidently we managed to upset someone senior in the Vatican, we do not know who, and after that no one would deal with us," he said. Even the priest who married the couple was suddenly transferred, with no explanation, to a tiny parish in Romania.
A journalist from Rai, the state broadcaster, who asked not to be named, said that the book had become "a taboo".
A Vatican spokesman said: "I have never heard of these authors, or of this book. It seems strange that they would accuse us of a conspiracy. Certainly, if their historical novel has managed to sell 15,000 copies in Italy, they should be happy. This is a good figure for that type of book."
Mondadori, which is owned by Silvio Berlusconi, refused to comment.
Grouch
ReplyDeletethe Pope was in fear of Luis Xiv taking control of Europe at the time. Religion played second fiddle to economic interest in the final analysis. (first more like)The bull-root in Rome was just another King at the end of the day. Irish fools thought the RC church and God was on their side. Not at all. Sure the only ever English Pope granted England the territory of Ireland. What right any arsehole sitting in Rome had to do that beggars belief. But, it's all par for the course!
Jesus wept.
ReplyDeletelarry, was just checking out that english pope there on google. jesus wept again. it wud make u want to turn prod. on another note, just listened to sean fitzpatrick speaking outside court there on news. i fuc*ing give up. what a cuntry.
ReplyDeletesorry John, I'm not very religious but Christendom needs Big Frank not at all. And the same goes for a pedophile free Ireland. It should be borne in mind that a lot of the bigotry and skulduggery of the British rule in Ireland has been sown with Vatican and Crown intrigue and teachings. From an island of saints and scholars Irish people rapidly and steadfastly became a barbaric land of uncivilized savages, unworthy of even basic human considerations. And all that happened long before the Protestant reformation. It was n't so much that the Irish refused to celebrate Easter a different day in the calendar, or that they allowed clerical marriage, but the real crime that they committed was that they organized in a communal and localized manner that contradicted fundamental Vatican power relationships. And just like it was better to let the muslims have Constantinople in the eyes of the Vatican, it has persisted in a policy of figuratively sending Ireland to a living hell, tortured by obfuscation and mismanagement whilst always blaming the sins on those sinned against. In truth "the feces of the clergy" a term used by RC Irish clergy themselves are firmly rooted at the top of Irish christendom and not elsewhere, and we'd probably be a lot better off as muslims than as ploys.
ReplyDelete