Church of Scotland Moderator Preaches in Roman Catholic Cathedral
As was noted in the July issue, the leaders of the Church of Scotland are quite evidently pursuing an ecumenical agenda. This was confirmed recently when the Kirks Moderator, the Rev Andrew McLellan, minister of St Andrews and St Georges Church in the centre of Edinburgh, preached in St Marys Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh the first time, says a press report, “a Church of Scotland leader has preached there”.
In his sermon he stated, “It is a matter of great hurt that we are not able to share Christian sacraments with our Catholic sisters and brothers . . . “. What he means by “Christian sacraments” we cannot say with certainty. If he means the Christian sacraments of the Church of Scotland, and hopes that the Church of Rome will one day allow its people to receive them, then he is more than naive. If, on the other hand, he means the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, then he is causing great damage by thus condoning the mass.
Even to be present at a mass is harmful to the person himself and offensive to God, the mass being idolatrous and blasphemous as is made clear, for example, by The Hurt of Hearing Mass, the little work by the Reformer John Bradford.
NMR
The Blair Baptism
It is surely more than a straw in the wind that the Prime Ministers baby son Leo was baptised recently by a Roman Catholic priest. The Prime Minister is professedly a Protestant but is married to a Roman Catholic and is reported to attend Roman Catholic Church services regularly. True to the expectation of that Church, the Roman Catholic partner in the Blair marriage has brought up the children in her religion.
If Mr Blair had any Protestant convictions, he would surely insist that his children be brought up in the true religion. In fact, it has been suggested that, after he leaves office, Mr Blair may himself become a Roman Catholic, but electoral considerations prevent him doing so at present.
One can never be confident that Prime Ministers will take a firm line in their dealings with their opposite numbers in the EU when decisions have to be made which impinge on our Protestant heritage. But, when we have a Prime Minister who has such manifest leanings towards Rome, the UK is in even greater danger of being influenced in the direction the Vatican has always so fervently wished.
Vatican Priests Linked to Art Fraud
The Vatican is at the centre of a suspected art fraud running into millions of pounds, reports The Daily Telegraph. It involves the selling of forged old masters under false certificates of authenticity issued by the Vatican. Michele Basso, a high-ranking monsignor who formerly headed the Vatican archives, and another prelate are under investigation by Italian magistrates. Several paintings found in Bassos possession, and supposedly by Michelangelo, Giambologna and other noted artists, have been seized and are thought to be fakes. Basso claims that the paintings are his own property which he was selling to help build a Church hospital in Albania.
According to the report, the prelates are suspected of being part of an elaborate operation to launder money. It allegedly involved the smuggling of suspected fake art works into Vatican territory where they were falsely authenticated, before emerging as apparently genuine.
We are not surprised by this report, considering the papacys skill in increasing its hoard of “Vatican billions”, and its expertise in duping people, especially in passing off its faith as true religion. Rome is justly notorious for its covetousness and deceit.
NMR
Return to Table of Contents for The Free Presbyterian Magazine – September 2000