Free Presbyterians in Scotland describe Pope state visit as “offensive”

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As turbulent plans for the Pope’s September state visit continue to make waves, an open-air mass at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park has prompted a pretty firm “nope” from the Free Presbyterian Church in Scotland.

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A statement said [the church] finds it “offensive that this visit results from an invitation to the Pope as Head of State, giving him that recognition and pretended legitimacy which he claims in opposition to the principles of the Reformation.”

It adds: “We deny that he is the head of the Christian Church or that he has any civil power which should receive recognition by any State, particularly one which has renounced his pretended jurisdiction.”

Describing the Papacy as “deceitful and unrighteous”, the Free Presbyterians highlighted recent global exposure of child abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, and suggest the Pope has connived in a cover-up.

It also highlighted that the tour is scheduled for the key anniversary of the Scottish Reformation in 1560. The Free Presbyterian Church adds: “We find it particularly offensive that this visit will commence in Edinburgh where, 450 years ago, under the brave and godly leadership of John Knox and our other Reformers, the jurisdiction of the pope was forever abolished.”

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Pope39s...6352400.jp