Protestant View

To the deep disappointment of prayerful Protestants, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has become the first Roman Catholic since the Reformation to preach at the invitation of the monarch. The service last month in the Church on her Sandringham estate was attended by the Queen and other members of the Royal family. While, sadly, the Queen has attended a Roman Catholic service in the past, this service was quite unprecedented, as was the invitation to the Cardinal to spend the weekend at Sandringham with the Royal Family.

Murphy-O'Connor used the opportunity to promote Rome's ecumenicism and her Marian dogma. He took "inspiration from Catholicism's Marian tradition", we are told, by presenting Mary the mother of Jesus as a perfect example of one who was obedient to God, and that her example was accepted by Christians of all denominations. He then stated that "if we listen and try to do the will of God in our own lives . . . then we have good reasons to hope that Christian unity will eventually come about".

Rome's unity is organisational unity with papal supremacy - the very antithesis of being "all one in Christ Jesus" and having "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace". May our monarch realise this and be true to her solemn coronation vow to uphold the Protestant religion!

NMR