Print Page | Previous Page
The Bible in the News
Catholic Ireland
Brexit fallout threatens peace
Sunday, March 14, 2021
www.bibleinthenews.com  Audio & Print versions


A Brazilian once observed, "In Ireland even the cattle in the fields are either Catholic or Protestant. You can tell which by looking at them." 

Video Version:

A Brief  History of  the Irish Conflict

If we want to see where Catholic teaching and rule would lead, we need only to look at Ireland.  And it’s not ancient history.  Their misdeeds and corruption have tormented the civilian population, while most Western countries experienced unprecedented peace and growth, they were afflicted by 30 years of terrorist activity.

Like all of Europe, Ireland was mostly Catholic before the Middle Ages. Rather than by religious conviction, Protestantism was introduced to Ireland by decree of King Henry VIII of England.

After Henry, the Catholic Queen Mary of England began English settlement in Ireland.  The settlers placed by the Catholic queen were, ironically, despised for their links to Protestant England. Intermarriage between the communities became outlawed, cementing the division.

Ireland gained independence in the 1920s and Catholicism became entwined with civil law/institutions and education, with the exception of Northern Ireland. This division of southern Catholic Ireland and Northern British Ireland persists and is religious, cultural and political.

Many actors and armies have been involved and there has been a history of violence and reprisals. In the 60’s the IRA from the Catholic south began a war to try to “free” the north and achieve a united Ireland.  This period is known as “The Troubles”.

The British army backed the North as they are part of the British union.

The IRA carried out many terrorist attacks mostly in Ireland and in England with brutal attacks on civilian targets right up to into the 90’s and into the 2000’s by the offshoot RIRA. Northern groups carried out attacks on Catholics claiming them to be a way to fight to maintain their freedom and get back at the other side.

There was a peace treaty signed on the 10th of April 1998 that has ended most of the troubles.
Today there are still walls dividing the sides.

As a result of the separation of North and South, implementing Brexit in Ireland has brought added complication. Brexit has amplified discontent over the borders and what is seen as breaches of the agreements. There are now threats of violence and renewed calls for a united Ireland.

From the Independent:

“Since at least the 1960s, many unionists have anxiously watched the natural increase of the Catholic minority. Since Catholics had traditionally strongly supported Irish unity, which Protestants overwhelmingly opposed, this raised the long-term nightmare of Protestants being “out-bred” and absorbed by the Republic of Ireland.”

From The Guardian:

“Catholics in Northern Ireland are expected soon to outnumber Protestants for the first time, a seismic demographic shift, and post-Brexit tumult has raised question about the region’s position in the UK.

“Most people in Northern Ireland wish to remain in the EU, which could tilt them towards Irish unity, but even nationalists worry about the economic cost and losing the NHS.”

“While the Good Friday agreement recognizes the aspiration of a united Ireland, the agreement also calls on us to dedicate ourselves to the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust. This has yet to be achieved.”

“A US-based Sinn Féin support group has placed half-page advertisements in the New York Times, Washington Post and other US newspapers calling for a referendum on Irish unification.

“Friends of Sinn Féin placed the ads on Wednesday to rally Irish-American support behind the party’s push for a referendum in Northern Ireland.

“Titled “A united Ireland – let the people have their say”, the ads ran in the run-up to St Patrick’s day next week, when the Biden administration and members of the US Congress will celebrate ancestral and political ties to Ireland. Full-page versions appeared in the Irish Voice and Irish Echo."

Is Ireland a Tarshish or Young Lion nation?

Ezekiel 38:13 “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”

It could be argued that Ireland should be part of the Southern alliance because of their association with England and ancient metal trading history.  They were one of the "Tin Islands". Britain as Tarshish appears to suffer lesser judgements during this tumultuous time that is to come on the earth than Europe does as a fire is sent on Magog and Europe becomes the “lake of fire”

There is another verse to consider as well, though:

Revelation 18:4 “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Those who do not leave Rome risk sharing in the judgements coming on Rome.  Is that the future for Ireland?  Catholic Ireland has been strongly opposed to Israel and the basis for judgement is the treatment of God’s people.  Maybe the north will be with Britain and the south will side with Europe and each receives appropriate judgement.

"WICKLOW, Ireland – In January, this country was rocked by the publication of the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, which runs to thousands of pages and tells the often harrowing stories of the unmarried mothers and their children who were effectively committed to the homes between 1922 and 1998.  Most damningly, the report confirms that approximately 9,000 children died while living in the homes.
"...And it is very difficult for those of us who remain observant Catholics to comprehend that the clergy we were taught to revere could have perpetrated such evil.  In the 20th century, when our Church exerted near total control over Irish society, some of its deeds were unforgivable.  Absolute power does corrupt absolutely.  Saddening and sickening in equal measure."

From the Boston Irish.

The Catholic Church has a history of not repenting of her sins as is noted in Revelation 9:

Revelation 9:20, 21 “ And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

This is a prophecy about the judgement of Roman Catholic Europe by the Muslims as understood as part of the continuous historic interpretation of Revelation. Before the Counter Reformation, this was the universal view of all of the reformers.  This understanding of the book has accurately foretold almost 2000 years of history in advance see the Bible Magazine for an overview.

The Greek word here daimonion, translated "devils" is defined by Theyer's Lexicon as follows:

1. the divine Power, deity, divinity...
2. a spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men...

The Catholic practice of praying to "saints" to help them, protect them and to perform miracles quite accurately fits this definition.

At the time of the Church's destruction, she is seen as unclean and committing fornication with all the world’s leaders.  By committing fornication, I believe that means she is making underhanded deals, compromising whenever she needs to.  There is no faithfulness to God, his word, or his principles.

Revelation 18:2, 3 “2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”

Tim Billington for The Bible in the News.



Printed:  Sunday, March 14, 2021

 

Visit www.bibleinthenews.com for a weekly analysis of world politics in the light of Bible prophecy!