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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