According to 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 we are to settle
lawsuits among believers.
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to be judged
before the unjust, and not before the saints ? 2 Know you not that the saints
shall judge this world ? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you
unworthy to judge the smallest matters ? 3 Know you not that we shall judge
angels ? how much more things of this world ? 4 If therefore you have judgments
of things pertaining to this world, set them to judge, who are the most
despised in the church. 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not
among you any one wise man, that is able to judge between his brethren ? 6 But
brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers.
7 Already indeed there is plainly a fault among you, that you have
lawsuits one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not
rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 8 But you do wrong and defraud, and
that to your brethren.
9 Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do
not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 10 Nor the
effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God. 11 And such
some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are
justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6: 1-11
Douay-Rheims Bible
Last September, I was assaulted
and knocked to the ground outside St. Patrick’s Church before Mass.
I had hoped that the Archbishop of St. John’s, The Rgt. Rev.
Martin Currie, would mediate
between my assailant, a fellow Catholic, and myself in order to resolve
the matter in Christian fashion and avoid further scandal and regular court
action but there was no interest shown in such an approach. I had also called upon
Fr. Wayne Dohey, my assailant’s pastor, to take
action as well but again, no interest was shown for such a proposal.
Having noted that, the charges that I laid against a fellow
Catholic for a vicious assault upon my person were settled today in the court
of the unbeliever, i.e. a local Provincial Court in St. John’s.
My assailant, Anthony Kearsey, from the beginning pleaded Not
Guilty, but today at the last possible moment before trial, pleaded Guilty to the
charges of common assault—by way of his lawyer—and the presiding judge had the
Guilty verdict entered into the record as well as imposing a $300 fine. Mr.
Kearsey himself did not show up in court and in the end offered no personal
apology. I requested of the Crown prosecutor that she read out loud my Victim
Impact Statement before sentencing, which she did. It appears immediately
below.
Of course I hoped that the media might show some interest in the fact that my assailant had pleaded Guilty to the charges so I tweeted out a message earlier this morning before heading out to court:
Local man Anthony Kearsey to plead guilty this morning to assaulting pro lifer outside Church @CBCNL @NTVNewsNL @VOCMNEWS @StJohnsTelegram
— Contra|Diction (@Contra1diction) April 3, 2014
As expected, I saw no sign of reporters anywhere near my courtroom, although they seemed to be scurrying about all the other courtrooms. From the very beginning, the media, including pro-life reporters, have shown no interest whatever in this incident, although when another incident better suited their purposes they were all over it.
This is the current pro-life reality.
2 comments:
That's terrible! Did Anthony Kearsey go to Communion too? The Church is in a bad state, and I apologize to you for what you suffered. I retweeted and followed you. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com
Thanks for your concern and encouragement. RE Anthony Kearsey, there is no indication or information that he subsequently did anything different regarding Communion than he always did. Thanks also for the retweet/follow. Will do likewise.
Post a Comment