A Christian pastor held a worship service for about 60 people in Dublin’s Phoenix Park last Sunday, and said he plans on being there again this coming Sunday.
Explaining his decision, Pastor John Ahern of All Nations Church in Dublin said “At the end of the day, I do think there are some things worth fighting for, and I think religious freedom is a sacred gift and it’s been trampled underfoot by this current Government, whether or not they understand or are willing to acknowledge that”.
“We’ve done everything we can to engage respectfully with the Government and to ask some very direct questions as to what proof exists to show that the churches have contributed to the spread of Covid and we haven’t had any satisfactory answers on that – well, actually, we haven’t had any answers at all,” he continued.
He said he had no desire to “demonise” Government but he did believe a “line was crossed” with the criminalisation of public worship.
He said the Churches had done everything they could to “respectfully obey and implement the various recommendations,” but that he believed the time had come to “respectfully disobey”, as the criminalisation was a “step too far”.
“People were very appreciative to finally have the opportunity to come and to worship,” he said, saying that he couldn’t ignore his responsibility as a pastor to care for people.
As the service was beginning, park rangers warned him that he must stop or the police would be called. Upon responding that he wouldn’t stop, the police were called, and stationed themselves nearby without interfering.
“I assumed within a minute or two, because they’re just across the Phoenix Park, that I was going to jail. I’ve a wife and five kids, being arrested wasn’t my aim and for anybody who listened to the message and what I was saying, one of the first points I made was the importance of showing respect to the gardaí and praying for our leaders,” Mr Ahern said.
“I just think it’s a very dangerous situation to get to because, I’ll be honest, I’ve never been in trouble with the gardaí, it’s not something I was relishing. I really wasn’t relishing being taken to the garda station or being carted off in a garda car, but I assumed it was inevitable.”
Despite his concerns, Mr Ahern said he plans to continue with the services as “rolling over and playing dead isn’t working”.
“I do believe there are some freedoms worth fighting for and religious freedom is one of them.”