UUP’s Robbie Butler: why I’m glad I went, it was the right thing to do,

THE clergyman son of former DUP leader Ian Paisley has criticised Protestant churchmen who met Pope Francis in Dublin.

Rev Kyle Paisley said he could not understand why any Protestant ministers would want to meet the pontiff due to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The Presbyterian Moderator Dr Charles McMullen joined other religious leaders, as well as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, at a civic reception for the Pope in Dublin Castle on Saturday.

The DUP was the only major political party in Northern Ireland to decline to send a representative. Writing in The Times, Rev Paisley warned it was only a matter of time before a papal visit to Northern Ireland as “Protestantism continues to weaken”.

He wrote that since the death of his firebrand preacher father in 2014 “there is hardly a Protestant protagonist of any note left in Ulster”.

A minister at Oulton Broad Free Presbyterian Church in Suffolk, Rev Paisley wrote that he had believed no Pope would set foot in Northern Ireland while his father was alive, and admitted his surprise that Francis had not chosen to visit the province as part of his trip.

“The best player can miss an open goal. But I cannot forget that Francis is a Jesuit. Jesuits are not known for being blunderers, but for their subtlety. They are wise as serpents,” he wrote.

“If Protestantism continues to weaken and gives the impression of aloofness from controversy — perish the thought — it would make a papal visit inevitable.” He criticised unionists on Belfast City Council for abstaining from a vote on inviting Pope Francis to Belfast in 2014.

“What concerns me more than anything is the man’s view of himself and how it reflects on the teachings of scripture,” he says. “I cannot understand why any Protestant churchmen would want to meet the Pope anywhere.”

He directly criticised Dr McMullen for deciding to meet Francis, saying he was paying “lip service” by signing a confession which called the Pope “the man of sin and son of perdition”.

“I would have more time for Presbyterian ministers who re- wrote the confession or separated from their church to form another than for those whose profession is in letter only and who go on to compromise the honour of the son of God,” he wrote. “Thankfully there are dissenting voices within Irish Presbyterianism.”

Last week his sister-in-law Fiona, who is married to his brother Ian, defended Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler after he was trolled online for meeting the Pope. She tweeted: “My head is in my hands after reading some of the replies to your post Robbie, each to their own view. Always do what you think is right in your heart.”