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 cr
eativity 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.
