(LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic priest in the United Kingdom has been accused of blasphemy, and is taking legal action to seek redress. His crime is to have suggested that someone might consider the opinion of God regarding the morality of homosexual unions.
The incident is said to have taken place whilst Father Patrick Pullicino was chaplain in a South London mental hospital. The institution, South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust, is operated by the state funded National Health Service, whose hospitals routinely fly some variant of the rainbow-emblazoned “LGBT pride” flag and seldom that of the nation.
Pullicino was approached by a patient for advice. The patient then volunteered the information that he was a homosexual, and sought the priest’s opinion on his intention to “marry” another man.
“What do you think God would say to you about this?” came the reply, which Pullicino insists led to his dismissal shortly afterwards, in January of 2020.
The case would appear to be tenuous, were it not for the values of the parallel reality in which so many are obliged to operate being clearly underlined; to wit, an NHS executive said of the case that “equality and diversity takes precedence over religious beliefs.”
The international religion of “equality and diversity” is clearly a jealous one, and it will not suffer any competition from that of the Lord.
Pullicino, assistant priest at a Catholic Church in London, has taken advice from the Christian Legal Centre, a U.K. based organization dedicated to “safeguard the freedom of Christians to live and speak for Jesus Christ, and to provide legal support for those taking a stand for Jesus and the truth that flows from him.”
According to the CLC, Pullicino is now “pursuing a claim against the [NHS] Trust for harassment, religious discrimination, and victimisation against the Trust.” His case will be heard at the Croydon Employment Tribunal in July this year.
The Christian Legal Centre has been busy of late, helping the legal defense of anyone who considers the word of Christ to be significant and worthy of inclusion in their daily lives.
Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her employment at a U.K. school over a Facebook post which claimed that the promotion of disordered sexual behaviour in schools amounted to “brainwashing our children” and that:
Children will be taught that all relationships are equally valid and ‘normal,’ so that same sex marriage is exactly the same as traditional marriage, and gender is a matter of choice, not biology, so that it’s up to them what sex they are.
Her remarks in summary appear to have been vindicated by her treatment.
We say again this is a vicious form of totalitarianism aimed at suppressing Christianity and removing it from the public arena.
The posts in question were made in 2018. They were not made public and were shared only to family and friends, outside working hours. Despite her religion being recognized as a “protected characteristic,” a tribunal concluded her views “would be perceived as unacceptable in relation to the gay and trans community.”
Under U.K. hate speech laws no proof of criminal activity is required beyond a perception of offense, upset, or disagreement. The public expression of Christianity is often prosecuted as an instance of “hate.”
David McConnell was taken to court for repeatedly referring to a man in a dress as a man in a dress. He was also charged for remarking that “adulterers, drunkards, and homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven.”
McConnell was convicted of harassment and sentenced to 12 months’ community service, with Crown Prosecutor Elizabeth Wright saying:
By repeatedly referring to the female victim as ‘this gentleman’ and ‘a man in woman’s clothing’ [while] using a microphone in a public place, McConnell’s comments crossed the line between [the] legitimate expression of his religious views, to become a distressing and threatening personal attack.
The accurate statement of fact is not merely taboo, but a “distressing and threatening personal attack” on people who use the law to insist we share in and respect their sexualized delusions, we are told.
With the help of the Christian Legal Centre McConnell brought a successful appeal to overturn his conviction.
“I knew the person in front of me was a biological male and, therefore, I stayed true to God and true to my beliefs,” McConnell stated.
In this case, the judge was not satisfied that McConnell’s basic observations of reality and his mention of the Christian teachings concerning sodomy were intended as harassment. The status of his remarks as “hate speech” – of noticing a man in a dress, and relating Christian teaching – remains unchallenged.
The reach of the CLC is international, including the case of Maltese man Matthew Grech. His crime was to post a video of his successful departure from the homosexual lifestyle. This has resulted in a prosecution for promoting “gay conversion therapy” – a practice which has been illegal in Malta since 2016.
Grech claims he is not motivated by hatred, but by a concern for Maltese youth:
I don’t want them to be victims of unwanted sexual feelings. I don’t want them to be robbed of the biblical side of the story around sex, sexuality and marriage. I don’t want the masses to believe ‘born gay, cannot change,’ and allow that to go unchallenged.
If found guilty, Grech faces a maximum fine of 5000 euros and up to five months in prison. He claims his treatment is typical of a media and political culture hostile to any perspective which challenges the LGBT agenda.
Many of us in ex-LGBT ministry are experiencing an increasing silencing from the general press and media, and are noticing a decreasing public interest in the exploration of the ‘ex-LGBT’ reality, which we believe is driven by the intimidation and fear these bans are creating.
Mild disagreement with the militant advocates of LGBT-ism may see you branded as a terrorist, as was the case with Dr. Bernard Randall. He was dismissed from his work – and his claim for unfair dismissal from a U.K. college denied – following a series of “Stalinesque interrogations” as part of a “sustained campaign of open censorship against him, which led to his life being torn apart as he had been deemed a safeguarding risk by the CofE [Church of England].”
This Church of England vicar, former chaplain of Christ’s College, Cambridge, was branded an extremist in court and reported to the anti-terrorist Prevent network. In a sermon given following the visit of a pro-LGBT sect, he said: “You should no more be told you have to accept LGBT ideology than you should be told you must be in favour of Brexit or must be Muslim.”
The Reverend’s apparent speech of hate went on, stressing that people must “treat each other with respect.”
His crime, if you have failed to detect in his words, appears to be insufficient enthusiasm for the indoctrination of children by the militantly disordered.
The school, Trent College, “had invited charity LGBT+ group Educate and Celebrate into the school. During a training session, he refused to join in with a chant from charity leader Elly Barnes to ‘smash heteronormativity’ – which is a concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation.”
It was common for Soviet officials to dread being the first to stop clapping when Stalin had spoken. The description of his treatment seems historically accurate. As we have seen, statements which correspond to experience, to reality, and to the teachings of the Bible are precisely those which offend the zealots of the new international religion.