Roman centurion Cornelius. He left James in charge of the Church in Jerusalem and went on missionary journeys. The first letter of Peter was written‘ from Babylon’, thought to be from Rome. Peter’ s association with Rome is not confirmed by scripture, but archaeological evidence seems to suggest it. It might be an invention of the Catholic Church, maybe to elevate Peter above Paul. He is said to have been martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero. Tradition is, he was crucified upside down, as not to be seen imitating Jesus. There is evidence from the catacombs that there was devotion to him and Paul in Rome at that time. Constantine built a basilica in the fourth century to house his tomb( holding bones moved from the catacombs). He is the patron saint of fishermen and regarded as holder of the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Brigitte Williams
Dying to be free!
In the writer’ s memory, two horrendous mass shootings have changed the laws of the United Kingdom. The Hungerford massacre, which resulted in the banning of automatic weapons and, closer to home, the horror visited on Dunblane Primary School.
Having had a peripheral involvement in giving evidence to the resulting Cullen Report, it was gratifying to see that further stringent restrictions were imposed on gun ownership following Thomas Hamilton’ s slaughter of the innocents.
Lessons learned and, albeit retrospectively, action taken.
How different from the situation in the country which styles itself as God’ s chosen, as the leaders of the free world and as the arsenal of democracy!
That it is an arsenal is demonstrably true, but how commendable is defending a democratic“ right” that in 2018 has already resulted in twenty-two school shooting incidents where someone was hurt or killed. At the time of writing, that averages out to more than 1 shooting per week.
As a consequence of the bizarre set of priorities which governs the dissemination of news in our country, the latest abomination barely merited a mention as the printed and broadcast media churned out obsequious articles over the nuptials of a minor royal.
In case you missed it, a teenager who allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver to kill 10 people and wound 10 others at a Texas high school on Friday 19 May 2018, admitted he didn ' t shoot people he liked and meant to kill the ones he did!
The weapon was legally acquired by his father and, clearly, easily accessible to his offspring.
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