By Steve Doughty Mail Online 17th September 2010
Easter and Christmas should not be discouraged by fear of offending others Christians in public roles should be allowed to act according to conscience Lack of ethical foundation resulted in financial crisis, he tells politicians
The Pope issued a clarion call to defend Christianity last night, saying Christmas was at risk of being struck from the calendar.
In a strongly worded speech delivered in Parliament, Benedict XVI bluntly told politicians not to ‘silence’ religion and discourage public celebration of its most important festivals.
And in a thinly veiled attack on controversial equality legislation, he said laws which forced Christians to act against their consciences were wrong.
‘There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere,’ he told senior politicians and public figures.
‘Don’t sideline Christianity’: The Pope urges politicians to work to ensure religion has a place in national life during a speech at Westminster Hall
‘There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.’
He spoke as security was tightened around the Papal visit after the arrest of six central London street sweepers over a suspected terror plot to attack him.Â
 Counter-terror police arrest five ‘Algerian’ street cleaners in dawn raid over alleged plot to attack the Pope on UK visit Tony Blair and Gordon Brown bury their long-standing differences to celebrate Pope’s visit
ROBERT HARDMAN: On the spot where Thomas More was condemned, a stirring defence of the faith Scotland Yard said there would be no change to his public itinerary, which will see him lead prayers in Hyde Park this evening and travel to Birmingham tomorrow.
In Westminster Hall, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown sat side by side for what was their first meeting in months – and which was probably a tricky encounter in light of Mr Blair’s explosive memoirs.
The pair chatted civilly as they waited for the Pope, but their body language at times told a different story.
Address: The Pope also blamed a lack of ethics in economic activity for the world financial crisis
Former Tory PMs Baroness Thatcher and John Major were also in the audience, which applauded the Pope vigorously before and after he spoke.
Benedict, who is now half way through his UK trip, insisted Christianity should not be forced to the sidelines and festivals including Christmas and Easter altered to avoid offence.
In his speech, the Pope said he was voicing his concern at the growing marginalisation of religion -Â particularly of Christianity – even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance.
‘There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or least relegated to the purely private sphere,’ he said.
‘There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.
‘And there are those who argue – paradoxically, with the intention of eliminating discrimination – that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience.
‘These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square.’
The Pope said a moral failure was to blame for the global financial crisis.
He said: ‘There is widespread agreement that the lack of a solid ethical foundation for economic activity has contributed to the grave difficulties now being experienced by millions of people throughout the world.’
And he said that, just as governments had come to the rescue of the banks, judged ‘too big to fail’, they must now act to help the world’s poorest people.
He said: ‘Here is an enterprise, worthy of the world’s attention, that is truly “too big to fail”.’
He then urged those present to use their ‘respective sphere of influence’ to ensure religion was involved in discourse ‘in every sphere of national life’.
The Pontiff spoke close to the spot where Sir Thomas More was sentenced to death, as he addressed a huge audience of 1,800 dignitaries including four former prime ministers.
Sir Thomas was tried and condemned in 1535 for refusing to follow Henry VIII’s demand he join him in asking the Pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
His refusal led to the king splitting from Rome and setting up the Church of England, a division which still divides Protestants and Catholics to this day.
After the speech, the Pope went to Westminster Abbey to participate in a joint service with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
In his address, the Archbishop criticised cultural changes which have made people obsessed by work in a bid to give their lives meaning and themselves dignity.
He spoke of Saint Benedict who inspired others to ‘the possibility of living in joy and mutual service, in simplicity and self-denial, in a balanced pattern of labour and prayer in which every moment spoke of human dignity fully realised in surrender to a loving God’.
‘The Benedictine life proved a sure foundation not only for generations of monks and nuns, but for an entire culture in which productive work and contemplative silence and receptivity – human dignity and human freedom – were both honoured.
‘Our own culture, a culture in which so often it seems that “love has grown cold”, is one in which we can see the dehumanising effects of losing sight of Benedict’s vision.
‘Work is so often an anxious and obsessive matter, as if our whole value as human beings depended upon it; and so, consequently, unemployment, still a scourge and a threat in these uncertain financial times, comes to seem like a loss of dignity and meaning in life.
‘We live in an age where there is a desperate need to recover the sense of the dignity of both labour and leisure and the necessity of a silent openness to God that allows our true character to grow and flourish by participating in an eternal love.’
Ahead of the Parliament speech, the Archbishop had welcomed the Pope to Lambeth Palace today for a historic meeting between the two religious leaders.
Also in the welcoming committee were the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan and the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Most Rev David Chillingworth.
Lambeth Palace, on the south bank of the River Thames, has been the London residence of archbishops of Canterbury since the 13th century.
It acts as a home for the Archbishop and his family when in London and as the central office for his ministry.
Dr Williams led the Pope to the Great Hall of the Palace to a gathering of Church of England diocesan bishops and Roman Catholic bishops of England, Scotland and Wales.
The bishops cheered as the pair entered the room and the Pontiff waved at the crowd.
Dr Williams welcomed the Pope and spoke of the historic visit as ‘a special time of grace and of growth in our shared calling’.
He said: ‘It is a particular pleasure that on this historic occasion we are able to come together as bishops of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches in this country to greet you, Your Holiness, during a visit which we all hope will be of significance both to the Church of Christ and to British society.
‘May this historic visit be for all of us a special time of grace and of growth in our shared calling, as you, Your Holiness, bring us the word of the Gospel afresh.’
Dr Williams said Christian leaders must be ready to fight back against the critics of religion.
He said their duty ‘involves a readiness to respond to the various trends in our cultural environment that seek to present Christian faith as both an obstacle to human freedom and a scandal to human intellect’.
Dr Williams continued: ‘Our presence together as British bishops here today is a sign of the way in which, in this country, we see our task as one and indivisible.
‘Our fervent prayer is that this visit will give us fresh energy and vision for working together. Meeting, as we do, as bishops of separated church communities, we must all feel that each of our own ministries is made less by the fact of our dividedness, a very real but imperfect communion.
‘Perhaps we shall not quickly overcome the remaining obstacles to full, restored communion. But no obstacles stand in the way of our seeking, as a matter of joyful obedience to the Lord, more ways in which to build up one another in holiness by prayer and public celebration together, by closer friendship, and by growing together both in the challenging work of service for all whom Christ loves, and mission to all God has made.’
Addressing the bishops, the Pope acknowledged the obstacles to unity between the Catholic and Anglican churches, saying: ‘It is not my intention today to speak of the difficulties that the ecumenical path has encountered and continues to encounter. Those difficulties are well known to everyone here.’
He said he wanted to give thanks for ‘the deep friendship that has grown between us’.
The Pope said society was moving away from its Christian heritage.
He said: ‘On the one hand, the surrounding culture is growing ever more distant from its Christian roots, despite a deep and widespread hunger for spiritual nourishment.
‘On the other hand, the increasingly multicultural dimension of society, particularly marked in this country, brings with it the opportunity to encounter other religions.’
He said moves towards unity in the two churches ‘will surely bear fruit in promoting peace and harmony in a world that so often seems at risk of fragmentation’.
The Pope urged Christians to stand up for their faith, saying: ‘We Christians never hesitate to proclaim our faith.’
The Archbishop and the Pope then exchanged gifts. Dr Williams presented the Pontiff with a leather-bound diptych – two panels hinged together – of facsimiles of illuminations from the 12th-century Lambeth Bible.
The two panels represent the Biblical story from Genesis to Christ and the Church.
The Romanesque-style Bible is thought to have been written and illustrated in Canterbury between 1150 and 1170.
Yesterday morning, protesters took to the streets to disrupt the Pontiff’s movements around London but there was little actual trouble.
Models for social networking site Gaydar, scantily dressed as angels, joined demonstrators waiting outside St Mary’s University College in Twickenham where he met children.
Angry demonstrators brandished posters declaring ‘Catholic paedophile – Cover up’ and ‘Protect the children, not the Church’ at the entrance gate.
Commons Speaker John Bercow also gave a speech praising the Pope, but his contribution was overshadowed by an outspoken intervention from his wife.
Sally Bercow, a would-be Labour MP last night used social networking website Twitter to join secular attacks which have been led by comedian Stephen Fry.
Soliciting donations for a 10,000ft parachute jump for a gay, lesbian and bi-sexual charity, she wrote: ‘The Pope has landed!
‘Mark the occasion by sponsoring my parachute jump for Stonewall UK and gay rights.’ In a later tweet she joked: ‘No I’m not going to land on the Pope’.
A spokesman for the Speaker said: ‘Mrs Speaker will not be attending the event.’
One leading Catholic MP, who did not want to be named, said of her tweet: ‘These comments are disappointing and offensive given the important constitutional role the Speaker has at this historic state visit.’
Tory MP Nadine Dorries said Mrs Bercow just ‘didn’t get it’ and was ‘letting us all down’.
A spokesman for Mr Bercow said the Speaker – who previously represented the Tories in the Commons – had no comment to make
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Since when do we bow the knee to Rome and kiss the hand of the Pope who blashpemously calls himself the vicar of Christ or sees himself as Christ. Jesus Himself said we are not call any man father except His Father and not to call any man a rabbi except Himself.
Christianity is a living faith it is not a religion, I object to having my faith called a religion as does YHVH and He hates religion and one day He will judge this religious system called Mistress Babylon and this includes the Catholic church. out of which came all of the cults the false religions and Islam yes I said Islam you can read this in Jack Chick’s comic the Prophet. How else would Islam have the same beliefs as Christians and Jews unless they were brought into it from the false church the catholic church Islam was following many gods until the time of Mohammad and the Pope wanted to take Jerusalem for himself and rule from there and he still does and so Islam was born to help the Pope move from Rome to Jerusalem. By the way Rome is not the eternal city Jerusalem is and the devil knows it because one day very soon Yeshua is coming back to rule from Jerusalem. The first complete copy of the Koran was found in the vatican back in the 16th century or earlier I wonder why.
Nor do I believe that the 25 December is our Lord’s birthday it is a pagan festival to celebrate the dying and coming to life again of the sun, it is the winter solstice and has nothing to do with the time of our Lord’s birth. Yeshua was born at the time of Sukkot the Feast of Tabernacles read John 1 the word Jesus / Yeshua was made flesh and came and dwelt tabernacled amongst us. The Autumn Feasts on YHVH’s calender have significance for us christians who are truly grafted into the Olive tree of Israel see Romans ch 11 and Yeshua will possibly one day snatch His bride the true church made up of all believers from all nations who have an intimate relationship with Him. He will snatch His bride away at the Feast of Trumpets the sound of the shofar will go out as will the Lord descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of an archangle and the sound of the shofar. See 1 Thess 4. He is coming very soon and I honestly thought the last trump was going to sound in the earthquake in Christchurch. Of course the Lord has more things to fulfill in His prophetic calender before this can happen. To understand the Lord coming back for His bride and what the different parts of a Jewish wedding mean and how they relate look up a Jewish wedding written by Messianic Jews on Google and you will be amazed at how similiar they are. The Lord Himself said He will not drink the last cup of the Passover which is the Marriage cup until He drinks it new in His Father’s kingdom. Why because this is the marriage cup and He cannot drink it until His bride has been bourght home to be with Him to celebrate His marriage supper with Him.
The Feast of Yon Kippur is the day of Atonement and Day of Judgement which is yet to come as well and this may be when the Lord will come from heaven with His angels and saints in the clouds shining with all of His glory to render His final judgment upon the earth and to set up His kingdom on this planet. Also the Feast of Tabernacles is important to the Lord because this may be when He celebrates His corronation and the coming into His inheritence and setting up His kingdom on earth from Jerusalem see Zech 14 and Joel 3 and Revelation 19. These Feasts are yet to be fulfilled, Yeshua has completely fulfilled the Spring Feasts the Former days of rain Feasts see Acts 2 but the later rain of Joel 2 has yet to be accomplished the last great harvest has yet to come about and we are on the brink of this harvest coming about and the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles. When the times of the Gentiles have been completed and the harvest has been brought in then the Lord will take His completed without spot or wrinkle bride home. This bride is the one new man of Eph 2:11-22 made up of both Jew and Gentile the wall of eminity has been broken down through the body of Christ by His atoning death on the cross. He is the true peace for both Jew and Gentile and we should be praying for Yeshua’s brethren to make peace with Him through the cross.
As I said Yeshua fulfilled the Spring Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost go to an excellent website called the Golden Report click on tab called Jewish roots and read up what He says about our Hebrew roots and the Feasts or you can order a dvd set from Prophecy news watch called the Feasts of the Lord. These Feasts are to do with Yeshua and every aspect of His life His first and second comings. The Spring Feasts are to do with His First coming and the Autumn Feasts are to do with His Second coming which will occur around Sept / Oct but what year and hour only the Lord knows but He wants us to be aware of these things and to be watching out for Him. I don’t celebrate Easter either because it is pagan and has its roots in paganism it is a pagan fertility festival and we are Christians should celebrate Passover because Yeshua is our ultimate Passover.
By the way when Constatine broke off with anything to do with the Jews and he was not a christian but a pagan and still worshiped the sun god. He broke off our connection to the vine and the olive tree of our Hebraic roots and we came under a curse the church became fragmented and we lost an awful lot of God’s truth and blessing. Jesus Himself said that we cannot live outside of Himself who is the true root of the Patriachs and Israel and anyone living outside of Himself will die and dry up and become dead wood fit only for the fire to be burnt up see John 15. We lost so much when we were broken off from our Hebraic roots which are the Patriachs, the law, the prophets, the apostles. God gave us His laws to live by, we couldn’t so He sent His pure sinless Son who is the lawgiver so that He could fulfill the righteous demands of the laws against sin by His atoning death on the cross and through His resurrection we can have life and through the Baptism of the Spirit our stoney hearts can be made flesh we can then live by the power of the Spirit the christian life or should I say the life that God intended His Jewish people to live but couldn’t because they were human and had no means to over come so He gave us power through His Holy Spiriti to help us live a life that is pleasing unto Him through faith and have the power to life pure, clean, holy righteous lives. This applies to both Jew and Gentile who profess faith in Yeshua this is the true church not a religous system based on rules, rituals and programmes. God desires intimacy, intimacy, intimacy with Him just like in marriage when a husband and wife really know his other through intimate relationship so too does our God want to know us and to taste us and to know our flavour so that we can taste Him and know His flavour which is a Hebraic flavour. After all He is the God of Israel and He is the One who made them perculiar people and gave them their particular flavour and we too as the true church of Yeshua have a flavour of Yeshua and we are not to be like the world but to be a perculiar people seperated unto Him and to be His royal Priesthood, kings and priests unto Him. To be Holy as He is Holy.
God does not want us to conform to the world or its religous systems or the Babylonic one world religion which is on the rise which is a cauldron of poison made up of indigeousness religions, new age, witchcrafts, sorceries, interfaith dialogue between Jews, Christians, Muslems, Budhists, Hindus and inter denominational mix. What have we to do with the wicked things of the world and the whore of Babylon which is the catholic church beware of it trying to get us back to Rome. God will judge this wicked system with fire one day and make her drink the cup of His judgement see Revelation 17-18 and this applies to the world’s political system as well.
By the way christianity and judeasim are not two different religions, we have the belief in the same God who is called the God of Israel it is just that the majority of the Jews have a veil over their hearts put there by YHVH so that we gentils can come to faith in Him but one day soon He will remove that veil of blindness off their hearts so that they can look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn as for an only son see Zech 12 -14. The Jews are still caught up in the old covenant and have yet to come to faith in their Messiah who died for them as the suffering servant they don’t realise that God was going to have two events the first and second coming of His Son. In their minds it is one event the day of the Lord Paul explains all of this in Ephesians when he explains about the mistrey of the church which was hidden from the eyes of the prophets but the truth of the church was revealed to him after the Lord’s death and resurrection. The Jews have to make their peace with God see Isaiah 27:3, and Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 54:10, the cross is the door of hope that God will show to His people in Hosea ch 2 when He takes them into the wilderness and will reveal Himself to them there. The Jews have to come from the old covenant into the new covenant through the atoning blood shed for them by their spotless lamb of God on the cross and then they will come to saving faith in Yeshua and they will come alive in Him and through them coming alive in Him blessings will flow on from their return from death to life to the rest of the world.
What I am saying here neither Christmas or Easter are fesstivals we christians should celebrate, we should celebrate the Feasts that the Lord had ordained not only for the Jews but also for the church because they pertain to Yeshua and we do not have a dead religion we have a living faith in Yeshua through our intimate relationship with Him and Father and enpowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life pleasing to YHVH. Also beware of Rome and do not come under the yoke of Rome but flee from it. This is not what YHVH wants He wants His true church to come under Yeshua Headship as Yeshua is the true Head of the church not man, not the Pope, not the Queen not anyman but only Yeshua is the true head of His body. His body without His headship cannot and will not function effectively it cannot. The church without Yeshua as its true head is only a religious system a dead thing there is no life in it. See Colossians chs 1 -3.
We are not to be caught up in manmade institutions or relgion but to follow the lamb where ever He goes and to keep our hearts pure and burning with a passion for Him and to abhor what He abhors and He hates religion come out of the Babylonic system and touch no unclean thing see Isaiah 52:10-11 you are those who carry the vessels of the Lord seperate yourselves from the world’s system, what has light to do with darkness the temple of Balal with the temple of the Holy Spirit see 2 Cor 6:14 -7:1.
Do not have anything to do with Rome or its religous system it is poison do not give crediance the Pope the Lord God almighty does not and He does not regard the catholic church as being part of His true body.
The Lord has been restoring His church back to her true roots the hebraic roots which satan had stolen from us all of these centuries ago and now He YHVH is bring reconcilliation between Jew and Gentile so that He can form His one true body, His true bride under His headship so that His true church can truly rise up in YHVH”s power the power of the Holy Spirit and to shine and do exploits in Him. When the time is right YHVH will bring forth His hidden ones, His secret army and let them loose on this earth. They will move with power, authority and might to do the works and speak the words that He YHVH will give them and they will see such mighty signs of power and might accompany their words when they preach the true gospel where ever they go because Yeshua will be there with them accompanying them and confirming their words which will be His words because He will be speaking through them and not they themselves. Yeshua’s true church will shine like stars in the days of darkness that are coming up ahead. The days of turmoil, economic upheaval and war are fast approaching us and this is in the mind and heart of God that these things would happen as He wants to wind up this time on earth to bring in His glorious kingdom.
Do not be alarmed when these things happen but cling more tightly to Yeshua and hide in His name get to know Him now while it is still called today and you have the freedom to spend time in His presence get to know His voice while you can because your very lives will depend upon being able to hear the quiet whisper of the Spirit telling you where to go and where not to go.
Hi Catch the Fire,
Sally Bercow, the would-be Labour MP is a complete airhead.
It’s popular to criticise the Pope and support Gay rights.
I’m not a Catholic but at least the Pope is someone is prepared to stand up for Christianity.
Very few people in high places do display any courage and back Christians. Atheists obtain great joy slagging off Christians.
regards
Phil – Sydney
Well done Jennifer Bolton. You have certainly brought out some excellent truths in the above response, especially regarding Christmas and Easter (paragraphs 3 and 9). Yes, “neither Christmas or Easter are festivals we christians should celebrate” is indeed true and from what we are seeing, God is now revealing this to those who will listen and search the scriptures for themselves. ‘Christmas’ is nowhere mentioned in the Bible nor is there any record of anyone observing Christmas or any hint that God the Father or Jesus Christ expects us to do so – and this is just 1 of at least 10 good reasons we can think of not to celebrate it. It’s impossible to “put Christ back in Christmas” (as many now assert that we should) since He never was in Christmas in the first place! He never so much as heard the word “Christmas” during His lifetime on earth, nor did His apostles after Him. This is not to say that the Bible doesn’t tell us to commemorate a highly significant event in Jesus Christ’s life on earth. It DOES – but that event is His death, not His birth (see 1 Cor. 11: 23 – 28).
And Jennifer, I believe you lived in our ‘neck of the woods’, here in Lithgow! Well done again, it’s a very friendly, picturesque valley. And on a different note to close, there’s a big celebration here in Australia this week for the 1st Australian ‘saint’ to be ‘canonised’ – Mary MacKillop. Well sorry to have to disappoint so many but according to the Word of God, the saints are the sanctified in Christ Jesus and only God knows the true number already from Australia, presently living and gone to be with the Lord (see 1 Cor 1: 2 making sure you read it in the KJV or NKJV – the most accurate)!
Our blessings.
Hi Ron & Barbara
Thanks for your words of encouragement and yes I agree with you regarding making Mary McKillop a saint, we wh believe in Yeshua are all saints, saint just means sanctified and when we come to faith in Yeshua we become sanctified and are therefore the saints of God. When Yeshua returns in His Glory with His angels and saints this includes the OT saints as well as the NT ones, we will be amontst them.
It is true I did come from Lithgow we moved to NZ over a year ago in July 2009, we attended three fellowships in Lithgow the Four Square One near the Swimming Pool, the AOG in Musket Pde and lastly the Baptist church. It is possible that we may know the same people.
Blessings in Yeshua’s name
Jenny
Think about this.. it was the application of christian values throughout centuries that makes the countries in the first world great despite the shortcomings of the the church. the Message of Christmas “Glory to God in the highest, peace and goodwill to all mankind”‘ will always be relevant to every person, every nation or persuasion.
Let’s bring this message to our family,community and beloved country.
When we celebrate the Christmas season, we give glory to Him and as a result peace and goodwill will flow from heaven to earth.
PS.Come on Christians, Jesus was the life of the party as written in the Bible. Throw Him a party at Christmasfor God’s sake. – it’s HIs bday afterall – bet He’ll show up!
Ruthy
sydney, Australia