Evangelicals cannot wash their hands as Pilate did

The following is a response letter by ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty to Paul Malcomson’s letter in the Irish News reference errror of the Roman Catholic Church. It is entitled, ‘Anti-Catholic Christians are guilty of offensive presumption and spiritual arrogance’.

ONCE again Paul Malcomson shows himself incapable of taking any responsibility whatsoever for the immense harm caused in our society by those who adopt the religious mindset of what he terms ‘ordinary evangelicals’ (July 8).

He accuses me of “lauding the character and track-record of the Catholic Church as if it were lily white”. I do no such thing. Furthermore any fair-minded person reading my response to his letter of May 27, would see that I did not ‘attack’ Mr Malcomson’s beliefs. I simply defended the beliefs of Catholics. I have no problem when anyone ‘dares to oppose’ the alleged ‘errors’ of the Catholic Church. At the same time anti-Catholics must expect that they will be vigorously contended with when they lambast and demean our faith. The Catholic Church does not ‘engage in anti-Christian practices’ and it is utterly absurd to try and compare the Church with the weird world of Orangeism.

Mr Malcomson accuses me of being aggressive. This is a typical complaint of anti-Catholics when their assertions are met by a robust defence of the Catholic faith. Let any reasonable person listen to the vicious and abusive ranting of anti-Catholic ‘preachers’ – and the violent savagery of their tirades against the Catholic faith – and it will be evident that what we have here are the real aggressors playing at being victims.

Mr Malcomson then writes that I ignored “the widespread institutionalised paedophilia within the priesthood (including the countless hierarchical cover-ups)”. There was so much to refute in Mr Malcomson’s original letter (May 27) that I didn’t address everything in my reply. However, I will deal now with the scandals in our Church. Many people will know well that I have never ‘ignored’ these scandals or how they were handled in the Church. I would refer Mr Malcomson to the archives of the Irish News for December 16 2002 and he will see clearly where I stand as a priest of the Church. I will not, however, allow anti-Catholics to use these scandals for their own devices in a simplistic and opportunistic manner. Paedophilia is not only ‘a Catholic Church issue’ – it is a widespread societal problem to be found among people of all religious persuasions and none. There are people who were abused as children by Sunday-school teachers.

FATHER PATRICK McCAFFERTY Belfast

Read a detailed exposure of the Royal Black Institution:

Irish News Article by Roy Garland
Evangelical Response by Paul Malcomson
Response to Paul Malcomson by “Father” Patrick McCafferty
Response to “Father” Patrick McCafferty by Paul Malcomson
Second response to Paul Malcomson by “Father” Patrick McCafferty
Second response to “Father” Patrick McCafferty by Paul Malcomson
Response to Paul Malcomson by G. Donaghy
Response to G. Donaghy by Paul Malcomson

Read a detailed exposure of the Royal Arch Purple by W P Malcomson: