Trial of evangelical clergyman ‘waste of time’, says priest

A well-known priest has said the trial of evangelical Pastor James McConnell for having allegedly sent “a grossly offensive” communication was a “complete waste of time and energy” that could have been better used.

Pastor McConnell had been tried for anti-Islamic comments in a May 2014 sermon at the Whitewell Metropolitan Church, including saying, “Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell”.

While Pastor McConnell’s comments were undeniably offensive, Judge Liam McNally ruled, they were not grossly so. “The courts need to be very careful not to criminalise speech which, however contemptible, is no more than offensive,” he said, continuing, “It is not the task of the criminal law to censor offensive utterances.”

Killyleagh and Crossgar priest Fr Paddy McCafferty told The Irish Catholic that the verdict had been predictable, observing that “Pastor McConnell has said far worse about Catholics in this town, as bad if not worse, but the way to go about this kind of controversy is engagement”.

Explaining that he and Pastor McConnell had become friends in the 1990s “as a result of me challenging him”, he reiterated that “the way forward is communication and engagement, and from that grows mutual respect and even friendship”.

Kerry Funerals not to be Standardised

The liturgy committee for the Diocese of Kerry has rejected a proposal to standardise diocesan funeral practices to ensure mourners can sympathise with the bereaved within churches.

Kerry councillors had passed a motion urging Bishop Ray Browne to allow this especially for when funerals were held in bad weather.

The Diocesan Liturgy Committee has said, however, that this is “not so simple”, as funeral practices vary from parish to parish depending on local customs.

“It is very difficult to standardise many of these because they are usually best resolved in the local area and with the awareness of local issues.”