The Pope’s visit to Poland has been followed closely by the media and put over with the usual sycophantic deference which is ever shown to the Roman Catholic Church. Accordingly his visit has proved a good propaganda exercise for the R.C. Church, as well as a softening up exercise in preparation for the establishment of a Church-State Concordat in Poland. If the Vatican was able to establish concordats with dictators like Hitler, Mussolini and General Franco, there is no reason why the same should not be done with a Communist power.
Poland has had a chequered history and this is not to be wondered at in view of its persecution of Protestants in Reformation times. No country showed more blind zeal on behalf of Romanism. The Pope now appears on the scene to preach liberty to a nation that has known little of freedom in its history. But the Pope has no liberty to offer them, only the bondage and darkness and superstition of Roman Catholic belief. To attain to the Pope’s ‘liberty’ would only mean for the Poles a passing from one bondage to another. May the day speedily come when the eyes of the Polish people will be opened to see the glory of Zion’s King. Only then will they turn away with loathing and disgust from the delusions of the anti-Christian papal system.
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
The elections in Rhodesia have resulted in the emergence of a black dominated Government under the Premiership of Bishop Abel Muzerawa and under the Presidency of Mr Josiah Gumedi. Whether this Government will receive international recognition or not is not yet clear although Britain and America appear to be moving in this direction. However the difficulties of the new Zimbabwe-Rhodesia are not over as the forces under Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe continue their terrorist activities. Also Mr Sitole’s party refuse to take part in the new Government. Tribal loyalties have a considerable effect on the situation. Bishop Muzerawa being a Shona has received the support of the majority of the electorate who belong to the Shona tribe. The Matebele people, on the other hand, are not so ready to support the Government.
It is to be hoped that out of the confused situation, the Lord will be pleased to bring order and that the nation may prosper in an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. We pray that the Lord’s Cause may prosper in that land and may not be in any way hindered by the setting up of the new Government.
Abortion Reform
It is gratifying to know that an attempt is being made in the present Parliament to reform the Abortion legislation and to try to reduce its worst excesses. Any effort in this direction is to be welcomed and we wish it all success. It is clear, however, that what is required in this field is not merely reform of the Abortion legislation of recent times but its total abolishment as being opposed to civilised behaviour, far less to Christian morality.
The advent of abortion in its present form in the medical field — an unnatural and mongrel development — has proved a calamity as well it might. It has undermined the high standards of medical practice previously prevailing through hardening the consciences of doctors who have succumbed to the new legislation. Easy abortion is also paving the way for its natural corollary, that is, ‘euthanasia’, as it is euphemistically called or, as it may be more properly termed, ‘killing off the unwanted old’.
The enormity of what is presently being practised in the hospitals of Britain in the name of medicine, and allegedly on the grounds of compassion, can be seen in the light of the divine law which obliges men as rational human beings to do all in their power to preserve their own life and the lives of others. Failure to fulfil these obligations is murder — and in this instance murder of the basest sort. The instances of Pharaoh and Herod in Scripture bear witness to the baseness of what is being done at present. They insisted on slaying children who had been born into the world and the blot on their names has been left on the page of Scripture. In the light of this, what are we to say of men who, while professing to be helpers of mankind and sustainers of life, abuse the trust humanity has placed in them, by slaying the children in the womb. What a weight of the wrath of God must lie eternally upon their souls if they repent not of their deeds.
The man whom the Pope delights to honour
When Haman was asked by King Ahasuerus, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? — he thought in his heart,
To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? But it was not ungodly Haman, the enemy of the Jews, that the king wished to honour, but the godly Jew, Mordecai, who had saved the king’s life, and Haman much to his chagrin had to escort Mordecai as he rode on horseback through the city clothed in the royal apparel and having on his head the crown royal. Haman had also to proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour.
In stark contrast to this the Pope’s choice does not rest on a poor Mordecai. The man whom the Pope delights to honour is an Irish dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop O’Fee of Dublin, whom it has pleased the Pope to make a Cardinal. What has Archbishop O’Fee done to receive such recognition from one who avers he is Christ’s Vicar on earth? Has he, for instance, been diligent in proclaiming Christ’s evangel to the poor, oppressed people of Southern Ireland, and so merited such recognition of his services. No, these are not his credentials. Rather is it because he has been a faithful son of ‘Holy Mother Church’ in keeping the people in Eire in the delusions of Roman Catholic belief and practice, and has been a fervent supporter of a United Ireland — that is, an Ireland united under Roman Catholic domination — that he has been commended to the favour of the Pope. This is the man whom the Pope delights to honour.