Reports
are coming in from the west of Ireland on the recent visit of one
calling himself "Kristos". The visit has now apparently ended without
further trouble. This may be due to the 17,400 army personnel drafted
in from the Curragh army Camp or the large posting of police. All
reinforcements were needed as emotions were running high at the end of
the week: A woman in her sixties In Belmullet said this "Kristy"
character as she called him) should be lynched and one elderly farmer
in Aghamore, in the east of the county, mentioned stringing him up from
the nearest tree.
The
week had started with a high level of excitement and expectation and it
seemed all was running to script when large numbers of patients at
Castlebar General Hospital were instantly healed and walked out of
emergency and operating Theatres totally whole. Admittedly there were
some rumblings of discontent later as over 50 consultants and 152
doctors were put on notice of dismissal. MCC announced the planned sale
of 87 Trollies used for overflow situations but Local Pharmacies called
for a stay on this saying the move was knee jerk and premature. A&E section in Castlebar, when contacted, said it was too early to
say if the sale would go ahead at a later date.
The visit to Knock Marian Shrine proved a turning point however. Seems as Kristos
approached the Shrine massive meltdown of paintings, one worth over a
million Euro, occurred. Resulting damage to roof and ceiling from
intense heat was estimated at €250,000 A local said he saw statues
actually disintegrating before his eyes and the historical Apparition Gable suffered
huge structural damage. The choir were singing that beautiful song
about Mary being "Queen of Ireland" and they were all struck dumb and
some had mental breakdown as he spoke. Kristos spoke very little in fact but His few words were full of authority as he said:--"Come out of her my people ...Flee from this pagan worship of the dead" .
Nobody I spoke to had any idea what he was referring to but one teacher
said he thought those words were from some place in the bible.! The following day two stall holders
( who sold religious parapaharnelia at the shrine) .. packed up actually
emigrated to Japan.
Later
a large crowd of unruly and very disturbed church goers assembled in
the nearby car park. Many wondered why the army had not been called in
to protect this Holy Shrine: An eerie silence and unusual dread hung over
the place. However nobody was quite sure who to lay the blame on but
all were agreed heads should roll!
Later
that evening there were reports of a small earthquake like eruption in
the Achill Island area. A large building (Often referred to as the
Prayer House) was totally demolished and fragments of stone littered the
island. Christine Gallagher was not there at the time but when
contacted in one her houses abroad she said our Lady had spoken to her
privately about this and said it was an omen of an imminent Russian and
Chinese invasion of Ireland. The Irish army has been placed on full alert!
Order
of Malta have announced that any climbing of Croagh Patrick {Ireland's Holy Mountain} is out of
the question at the moment due to the huge landslides in the area
overnight. Mayo Co Council later indicated that it could be 10 to 14
years before the pilgrimage could resume. A Westport T.D said in an
interview with local radio that this Kristos imposter was
obviously a fraud and had done irreparable damage to the tourism
industry in Mayo and to the whole economy of the west. He urged
Government and religious authorities to get together and prevent any
re-occurrence,.
Bishop
O Lunasa, auxiliary Bishop of Lahardane and Nephin Dioceses , called
into question any religious or spiritual significance to these events..
"Anyone who attacks established places of worship or indeed damages places associated with the mother of God will have God
himself to answer to .. and no doubt about that" the bishop fumed. Then he
continued: "No God will have his mother demeaned like that" The Bishop was upset and visibly shaken.
On the Wednesday morning a very sad event occurred in the town of Ballinrobe: Kristos
was in the area but could hardly be blamed for what happened. It seems
two young people, very well liked in the area were being married at a ceremony in
the town. Local fire officer explained that during the service the
room began gradually to fill with a thick dark smoke. The overpowering
pungent smell of sulphur forced the abandonment of the marriage and both
men involved, bride (!) and groom, were utterly devastated. Later the weeping bride said "Our whole wedding day was ruined: But our love will never
die ..."
"We
have enough to contend with this week" the fire officer stated "without
tasteless pranks like this" Police are investigating the cause of the
smoke and are looking for all help from the public.
Most
mainstream churches and places of worship stood aloof from this cult visitor. A pastor said they never speak uncharitably of
anyone. Kristos on the other hand showed no such
reluctance, and when asked about certain religious establishments simply said: "Let
the dead bury their dead" Not a very loving or Godly attitude many
thought, for one who claimed to be.....
An
inter denomination group {"Christians For Christ"..CFC} sought to draw Christians closer by all this
Kristos excitement. They organised a meeting outside Pontoon in a field
and over 120,000 turned up. I spoke to some who attended and they said
it was so powerful and so anointed. "The singing and music would melt
the coldest heart" one woman told me:
It
went on for over two hours and many were visibly touched and some wept.
Towards the end of the meeting a few verses of scripture, carefully
chosen so as not to offend any of the different groups present, were
actually recited by a girl from the local drama group. Even though Kristos
failed to turn up (Delayed talking to some turf cutters and crab fisher men
in the Belderrig area) the evening was deemed a glorious success. One of the
organisers told me "Lives are being changed here: All everybody wants
and prays for now is peace and to get back to what it was like before
all this nonsense began" And so say all of us here in the newsroom!
Pope Francis, who is due to visit Ireland himself in the fall, has called for calm and forgiveness. The Holy Father
said the real Jesus would never act in so radical a fashion or cause such hurt
and confusion. . However he further indicated that being the year of Mercy there
is hope for all -- even this Kristos impersonator , if he
says the apostles creed and comes kneeling thro' any of the 33 doors of
mercy in Ireland". Many others however were not so willing to forgive:
{This is Sean Mac An Eaglais reporting from a troubled, angry and very confused west of Ireland}
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