Critics drive Catholics to make Pope’s visit succeed
Thursday 16th September 2010, 2:29PM BST.
Guernsey Catholics’ pilgrim leader Liz Dene with her ticket to see the Pope. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 1028558)
CRITICISM faced by the Pope on his controversial visit to Britain today has spurred on local supporters to make his historic trip a success.
Guernsey Catholics’ pilgrim leader Liz Dene flew to the UK last night to meet 15 other islanders who will see Pope Benedict XVI on the first official state visit in 500 years.
But the papal tour that will include Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham has been marred by controversy on a number of issues.
Many across the world are said to have had their faith tested after revelations about sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
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Has anyone noticed the Vatican Flag (Papal) flying from the Mast at the bottom of St Julian’s Avenue, on the roundabout. God bless the Pope :)
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There’s a Papal Vatican State Flag flying from the Mast on the roundabout at the bottom of St Julian’s Avenue! Well done States of Guernsey :)
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I wonder if Jesus would get the same attention if he was to make a state visit in person.
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slep – he would receive more attention :)
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Wow, no I hadn’t noticed the flag, I didn’t even know they had one! What’s it look like? Bit like this I guess…
http://is.gd/feJkl
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Well at least Guernsey and the Vatican have something in common – They both sweep child abuse under the carpet!
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Why is this flag being flown please? Not in my name!!!!
And ecce, why did you feel the need to tell us twice?
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Shame the Pope could not have come to Guernsey as well as England and Scotland.
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HM – Why? If you want to see him, go to Rome.
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Along with Eh, if what ecce says is true I’m also curious why the Vatican flag is being flown locally. The Pope was invited to England and Scotland by the UK Government, I don’t recall a similar invitation by the States of Guernsey.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t recall the flags of other nations being flown when their Heads of State visit the UK, so why the exception?
I’m not offended by it, just curious….
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ecce, I`m glad you think Jesus would get more attention. After all, the Church is supposed to be Christ-centred, it`s not about the Pope or the Archbishop or the Queen.
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At least 1000 approx. Catholics practice their faith on Sundays in Guernsey compared to the 500 or less who attend other demonination services. That’s not why the flag is flown, but it’s a good thinking point.
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Curious where you get your figures from ecce as I think you’re short changing our local churches!
The Methodists average congregation alone topped 600 in 2007 – OK that’s 3 years ago but even IF it dropped by 20% in the last 3 years it would still be 480, meaning that all the other local churches would only have 20 people spread between them!
Then there’s Church on the Rock, Shiloh and Trinity – each of which must get at least 100 every Sunday. That’s not taking into account all the other Anglican, Baptist and independent churches on the island.
This isn’t about competition though – as long as people believe the Gospel and are worshipping Jesus Christ I couldn’t care less what denomination or building they’re in. Let’s both be grateful that there are slightly more that 1500 people worshipping every week eh? :-)
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Well said Paul Le Page, especially the last paragraph. I`m not into this labelling of people either. Either we believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour or we don`t. Those are the only two groups there are.
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“Jesus as Lord and Saviour” ?? Why? How? Some bloke who may or may not have lived 2,000 years ago? Yeah, right! I don’t think so somehow!
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Even most scientists believe, at least, that a man called Jesus walked the Earth 2000 years ago. The evidence is just too great to ignore. Whether you choose to believe that He was/is Lord and Saviour is a different story and that’s where faith comes in.
Although I seriously doubt that David Attenborough has Christian beliefs, he refers to Giant Redwoods to being in their prime ‘when Jesus walked the Earth’ (quote).
As for Shiloh, there are about 40 people at the early service, about 120 mid-morning and perhaps 80-100 in the evening.
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Eh, you seem to be quite offended by Sleps’ comments?! I don’t think the dumb-down approach offers a critical contribution to the whole ‘God argument’ in this day and age! I’m not implying that you are wrong to dismiss God, that’s your choice entirely, however I think followers of other mainstream religions and atheists alike would find a whole new meaning to the Christian God if they could look outside of what today’s society depicts what is right and wrong. Maybe i’m wrong myself, but I feel that simply dismissing the existence of God based on the thought that Jesus may or may have not existed seems all a bit juvenile! Especially when there is clear evidence based on research and archaeology that a man called Jesus lived around the time of the Jesus we hear about in the bible, that seems to good to be absolute coincidence does it not!?
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