The Pope is due to visit Eire in September. The question as to whether or not he would visit Ulster was raised in the public press and elsewhere. Protestants in Northern Ireland expressed dismay and utter opposition to the idea of a visit by the Pontiff. The British Minister to the Vatican, Mr Geoffrey Crossley, made it clear that the Pope would be welcome in any part of the United Kingdom and the Prime Minister assured Mr Gerry Fitt, a Northern Ireland Roman Catholic Member of Parliament that the Pope would be very welcome if he wished to visit Ulster. Another M.P., Mr John Biggs-Davison, urged that the Queen should welcome the Pope if he visited Ulster.
In this ecumenical age it is thought charitable to welcome the Pope and the height of discourtesy to express any opposition to a visit by him to this country. This is because the present age is blind to the realities of Papal power and intrigue. The Pope can confer no benefit on this country and is doing his best through his anti-Christian system to destroy the inestimable blessings and benefits conferred on our nation through the Reformation of the 16th century. The Pope would do greater service to our nation and the world if he were to stay at home and abandon once and for all his pretensions to be the Vicar of Christ on earth. His interference in Ireland will certainly not bring the day of peace any nearer for that troubled land.