RPCI statement
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (RPCI) has expressed its ‘dismay and sorrow’ at the planned visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK this September.
In a statement issued in July, Rev. David Sutherland, RPCI convenor, wrote: ‘We regard his claim to be the Vicar of Christ on earth as false and eternally ruinous to those who are deceived by it and who put their trust in it.
‘We hold no ill will to the Roman Catholic community. On the contrary, we desire their highest and everlasting good in being brought to faith in the “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Only in this way can any of us go to heaven instead of hell.
‘We consider this proposed visit to be a further instance of the United Kingdom turning from the true biblical gospel of Jesus Christ’.
The RPCI also stated that it believed the hand of the Lord would continue to be against the nation until there was a general turning from ‘our current love of false religions, unbelief and wrong morals to seek God’s forgiveness through Christ’.
