There is something strangely missing in the debate presently raging about the Murphy Report. We hear legal debates based on Civic Law, Canon Law and Moral Law. But no one is referring back to the Law of God or the simple words of Jesus himself in trying to put a context on all of this repulsive abuse that children have suffered at the hands of these so called Christian leaders.

I was raised a strict Catholic during the ‘50’s. I was an alter boy and attended the Christian Brothers. I knew all the Latin prayers by heart. By my teens I had decided that the Catholic Church was full of hypocrisy and I wanted no part in it. At age 24 I had a Damascene epiphany which changed me into what has been derogatorily termed a ‘born-again Christian’. So I can speak as a former Catholic who became a born again Christian and Biblical student.

A cursory reading of the four Gospels shows that the people who constantly hassled Jesus, who tried to trick him, who challenged him, who organised his betrayal, his arrest, his torture, his kangaroo court and ultimate murder, were the chief priests, the Pharisees and the doctors of Theology. That is, it was the religious leaders of the day. Those who got up in the pulpit in the synagogue every week to preach. It was they who crucified Jesus.

I always wondered why Catholics, as supposed Christians, were never encouraged to read the Bible. But when I became a student of said Bible, I learned why. Listen now to some of the direct words of the man himself and compare these with the stories we have been hearing about.

“Call no one on this earth father; for one is your father and He is in heaven.” (Matt 23:9)

Is it any wonder why we have never heard this preached from the alter of a Catholic church? Here is another interesting quote from the man priests are supposed to represent:

“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the market-places and have the most important seats in the synagogue and places of honour at banquets. They devour widows houses and love the praise of men and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” (Mark 12:38-40)

Or this one: “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matt 7:15) What are the fruits of the Catholic church?

Speaking of children, and this has direct relevance to the current situation, Jesus said:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt 18:6)

Surely this form of punishment is not acceptable in our modern pc world? Yet these are the words of the same Christ, Roman Catholic priests purport to serve. Has anyone heard a Bishop or a Cardinal or the Pope quote this saying? No.

In another of the many confrontations Jesus had with the clergy, they said to him, “We be of our father Abraham”. The inference here was that they had a father but he did not. For they believed that he was ‘illegitimate’ as they knew Mary was pregnant before her marriage. This was a sly intimation that he was a bastard child. But he replied:

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father you will do”. And at yet another debate he had with the hierarchy he told them, “You are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch”.

Bottom line here is that the Roman Catholic church is not a Christian church. At best it is nominal Christianity. It does not teach or adhere to the plain teachings of the New Testament. In fact it has gone out of its way to keep the laity away from scripture and instead reverts to the teachings of traditions and doctrines of the Church which are diametrically and diabolically opposite to the teachings of Christ. Saying that Catholics are Christians is akin to me saying I am a mechanic, but I have no idea how to change the oil in your car! Catholics have beet treated like mushrooms; keep them in the dark and feed them manure.

“Thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” (Matt 16:18)

It is upon this short sentence that the Church of Rome derives its authority categorically stating that Peter was the first Pope. (Yet just five verses later Jesus said to this same Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan”. But we never hear this taught). However, we need to look at the original Greek to ferret out the truth of the above quote. For ‘Peter’ in Greek here is petros, which literally means a small stone or a pebble. But the Greek for ‘rock’ is petra which means a big, immovable rock.

What Jesus was saying here was, “You are a pebble. You blow hot and cold. One day you stand for me, the next you deny me three times. You are unreliable. But upon THIS rock, I will build MY church”. Jesus was speaking of himself being the rock. Several times in the New and Old Testament it speaks of Jesus being the rock. Peter was a great leader but he was not ‘the rock’. In fact the apostle Paul was a far greater leader in the first century church than Peter ever was.

This next passage will demonstrate what is now happening to the Church of Rome.

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The rain came down, the stream rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand . The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt 7:24-27)

The Church of Rome has built its house on sand, in the form of Peter, and has abandoned and neglected the teachings of Jesus, who is the rock. As a consequence it is anti-Christian and the fruits of the Catholic Church are plain to be seen by all. Just as the chief priests, the Pharisees and the Doctors of Theology were the plotters of the murder of Jesus, so the Bishops, the Cardinals and priests of today are their counterparts. Plus ca change. Paul summed it up very well in 2 Corinthians 11: 13,14 where, speaking of the religious of his day he said: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”.

Roman Catholicism only came into Ireland with the backing of the then King of England, circa 1,000AD. Prior to that there was a different form of Christianity practiced here which began with the preaching and teaching of Saint Patrick, who was an evangelical Christian, about 425AD. This is evidenced by his writings which are peppered with scripture quotes from Genesis to Revelation. Patrick knew his Bible. For 600 years this was the Golden Age of Ireland and we became the centre of Christian study in Europe and the Land of Saints and Scholars. Missionaries went all over Europe from Ireland preaching “the Gospel of Christ”. But all this changed after the Church of Rome came in. Historians tell us it took about 100 years to change the Irish from their form of Christianity to Catholicism. And it has been all downhill ever since.

There are many good, honest Catholic folk. But sincerity is no guarantee for truth. It pains me to state this, but the following passage refers, in my opinion, to Roman Catholics and especially their Cardinals, Bishops and priests (as well as other so called Christian denominations) :

“Not every one that saith unto me ‘Lord, lord’, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?’

And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me ye who work iniquity’.

As a former Catholic who found Christ through the scriptures, I feel there is only one hope for the Catholic Church. Forget about the traditions and doctrines of Rome and get back to the simple teachings of Christ. Bring your Bibles into the church and open them and read them in order to find the narrow path of truth. If priests do not lead on this, they will remain “blind leaders of the blind”. And if the congregations do not insist on a return to the study of the scriptures, they will remain in the dark and “both shall fall into the ditch”. But if people do search out the truths of the Word, “then you shall know the truth; and the truth shall set you free”. This is the promise of Jesus Christ to each of you. (John 8:32)

 

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