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In 597 AD, St
Augustine arrived in England on an ecumenical journey. His
aim was to convert the English to Christianity. St Gregory
and the versatile St Benedict had sought to forge some
ecumenical cooperation with the English, the Welsh and the
Scots. Their efforts ended in the wilderness.
Monarchical extremism intervened ruthlessly
and that iconoclasm in Britain has lasted till today,
fuelled by aggressive secularism and atheistic extremism.
The Reformation had dealt irreparable damage
on dialogue between faiths. The rascally demand of King
Henry XVIII, in which he wanted to have his way in total
disregard of the established order, caused a schism within
the Church.
It is remarkable that St Thomas Moore died
because of his Christian beliefs. There were also other
well-documented murders of Christians
In 2010, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict
xvi, undertook a State visit to Britain, under the double
impact of his being the Head of the Vatican state as a
result of the Lantern Treaty of 1929 and as the Chief
Theologian of the Catholic Church
The Pontiff started in Scotland and during
the second day of his visit, he made history by praying in
the Westminster Abbey, built in 1066.
The papal visit was a re-sounding success in
spite of the arrest of six Algerian suspects, who”
threatened the Pope’s person” according to British
Intelligence a factor that dampened enthusiasm and caused
some trepidation.
A week before the papal visit, Professor
Michael Hawkins, the Cambridge theoretical physicist,
stirred the hornet’s nest by declaring that “theology was
unnecessary.”
In his speech in Edinburgh, Scotland, Pope
Benedict, the theologian lashed out at “atheistic extremism”
and “aggressive forms of secularism.”
This will set the stage for future
disputations between bearded atheists and Benedictines.
The Holy Catholic Church is used to
disputations, both amongst its clergy and with outsiders. We
recall that cases of Venerable Bede and William George
Ward (1812-82). “.While a fellow at Balliol, Ward was won
over to the Tractarians and took orders in 1840. His book,
“The Ideal of a Christian Church, 1844, brought him into
disfavor with the university authorities.” He found concord
with the now Blessed John Henry Newman and both joined the
Church of Rome. Ward was” a vigorous controversialist, an
uncompromising advocate of papal infallibility and anything
savouring of modernism”
There has and always will be ideological and
intellectual disputations among atheists, protestants and
proselytes of other forms of religion.
God uplifts “those whom He did foreknow,
them He called, them He called, them He sanctified, them He
sanctified and them He glorified …. Romans 8: He makes them
blessed and canonizes them. We have just witnessed the
beatification of Blessed Newman.
As far as religion is concerned, Americans
must turn a new leaf; emulate President Jimmy Carter, so
that it will be well with the nation.
Obama’s presidency has caused so much
divisiveness and rancor, unprecedented in American history.
There are many Americans, who have hardened their hearts
against any success Obama has recorded, and the successes
are amazingly remarkable and are there for all to see. Jimmy
Carter said to Larry King that “Obama is solid and
intelligent”.
Yet political extremism seems to drive
democracy into deep ravines.
If that garrulous and phonetically gifted
avant-garde shall have her say and her way, the hatred she
is sowing will bring in a distinct political monsoon period
in American politics. There is asp under her lips, and it
is a deadly arrow. She is out to escalate the forth-coming
human misery in the land she loves so much.
She is framing the Tea Party, the Hitlerite
Beer Halle style. At that time, frenzied hand clapping
whipped up anti-Jewish emotions. We have not forgotten where
this landed the world.
While the atheist blasphemes irreverently and
unceasingly, the theologian extols the Triune God in holy
reverence. The theoretical physicist and other scientists
are always preoccupied with abstract notions about the
universe and the infinity of numbers.
The atheist promotes discussions on
lesbianism, homosexuality and the ordination of women as
priests, abortion and other perverse subjects as themes of
relevance.
The Pope has stoically stood his grounds that
he does not want to be drawn into such discussions to the
disappointment of the aggressive secularists.
Pope Benedict is more interested in
theological and philosophical themes bordering on “faith and
reason”, moral uprightness, creeds of heaven, academic and
spiritual formation and the ideas expressed in the “Oxford
Movement”. This makes him a vital link between the various
church denominations, a mission he is successfully pursuing.
Just as Blessed John Henry Newman is an
inspiration to Pope Benedict X11, so the later is inspiring
the Oratory schools around the world.
The life of Blessed John Henry Newman from
1801 to1890 was full of activism. He pursued academic and
theological, literary engagements and succeeded inexorably.
He disputed some of the teachings of utilitarianism, which
was founded in London in 1774.
Britain was a sworn enemy of the Catholic
faith, which culminated in the murder of St Thomas Moore.
Blessed John Henry Newman, an exemplary Catholic, tried his
utmost, after his conversion to turn England around from its
bohemianism, social Darwinism, free-thinking and murderous
escapades to enlightened spiritualism under the unction of
the Holy Spirit.
The Cambridge dons like Charles Robert
Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, Steve Hawkins and other scientists
like Max Planck, Einstein, Nobel, by adopting simplistic
dismissal of theology were engraved in error. Some had
incomplete knowledge of the theological foundations of
Christendom and so were incompetent to pontificate on the
virtues of ecumenism.
I believe that some demons hibernate under
the Cam Bridge, in Cambridge, that recruits young
academicians to propagate vexatious indictment laid against
the Christian faith. They have been proud to call themselves
atheists.
They have been studiously engaged in vain
enquires about the origin of the Universe, which yields to
endless disputations and under the control of the satanic
hierarchy, instead of yielding to the inspirational
teachings of the Holy Spirit. Studies about the universe and
about the Holy trinity stand on a footing of manifest
inequality.
Disputations about lesbianism, homosexual
practices, abortion and same-sex marriages do appeal to
atheists, non-conformists, bohemians and anti-Christ
confessors. In prolonging these perverse discussions and
writing about them, the minds of the faint-hearted may
buckle into taking an interest in such polluted and hazy
irreverence.
The decline of morality in Europe, incessant
murders, violent robberies and debauchery, point to lack of
the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. How can a person gun
down people in a hospital, in a college and expect to be
regarded as a normal individual?
There is need for the spirit of discernment
so that evil men and women do not turn the Earth into Sodom
and Gomorrah. The present shocking weather ravages of the
world is a cause to offer prayers to Jehovah Adonai. God
acceptance and adoration must form the basis of spiritual
life.
The Aquarian Age is the period of spirit
consciousness. The Era of the Gentiles, Atonement and the
Brotherhood of Man is an era marked by supplications,
revivals and the practice of holiness.
The beatification of the Blessed John Henry
Newman by Pope Benedict XV1 has created a new awareness
about the value of infinite goodness. The Papal visit
educated the world about Catholic traditions of adhering
strictly to God’s ordinations.
The kingdom of satan is constantly shaken by
Catholic mass, benediction, and the sacraments. The World
Catholic community demonstrated their creativity by
organizing a beautiful beatification for Blessed John Henry
Newman.
The Catholic Assembly in England is peaceful,
hurting nobody and has not been associated with violence and
destructive engagements because the Christian faith enjoys
thrilling victories over demonic evil knitting.
The Pope lamented the sex abuse of children
by the clergy and acknowledged that it weakens the moral
authority of the Church. He now has to deal with money
laundering scandal by the Head of the Vatican Bank.
The atheists and ecumenical mal-contents have
demanded the resignation of the Pope just to create ill-will
towards the pontiff. He does not deserve the insults.
As a doctoral law student at the University
of Cologne, I was fond of attending Cardinal Ratsinger’s
evangelical lectures.He was then adviser to the Head of the
Catholic Church in Cologne. I used to serve at mass at the
Cathedral in Cologne.
A consummate theologian, he was created for
the office he now holds, having been groomed by his father,
who opposed the Nazis. Initially, the fact that Pope
Benedict was a member of the Hitler jugend cast a doubt on
his suitability for the papacy. But when one reflects on the
fact that he was conscripted by the system, he fully
deserved to be exonerated.
The Bishop on Rome is a prolific writer on
theology, with the profundity of Virgil, when he wrote
Aeneid. The Pope is involved in Catholic education in order
to stem the tide of rebellion by children in the West. They
take cocaine, marijuana and are ever skidding down the hill
of destruction. The era of delinquent parents is in
fruition, totally against God’s admonitions on how to take
care of children.
The Pope’s message in Britain was
power-packed and real. Pastors and church workers will now
redirect revivals so that the Holy Spirit will make us God’s
elect.
The Redeemed Christians understand the value
of theology. They are always filled with the words of God
and this makes them different from aggressive secularists
and atheistic extremists. Redeemed Christians pray
incessantly and the intercessors pray in spirit and in truth
causing miracles to happen so that the laity can testify to
the goodness of Jehovah RAPHA.
In my first pastoral book entitled,”
Understanding the End-time Turbulence, The Era of the
Gentiles”, 1996, Q-Communications Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria, I
wrote that in these end-times, God is welcoming more and
more people into his vine-yard. Many Christians are
increasingly belonging to the Order of Melchizedek, so as to
render service to Almighty God.
Blessed John Henry Newman, Pope John Paul 11
and Pope Benedict XV1, are examples of those servants of
God, who have become God’s battle-axe, who God has used to
destroy the forces of evil, which continually cause
disharmony, rancor, wars and contentious engagements.
The State and pastoral visits of the Pope to
various parts of Britain signify an ecumenical restoration
of Britain to the path of imminent holy vibrations and
critical speed towards an ecumenical cooperation with the
Vatican.
Professor Dr. Emmanuel Omoh Esiemokhai is the
President of the proposed AFEMAI UNIVERSITY, Fugar, Edo
State, Nigeria. He is a Writer and Academic.
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Published
September 30th, 2010
