DUP advisor prompts outrage over anti-Catholic remarks
A DUP special advisor to the Northern Ireland Executive was today at the centre of a bizarre religious row.
Wallace Thompson, 54, chief aide to Enterprise Minister Nigel Dodds, objected to Catholic rosary beads being sold at the Anglican St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
But he also provoked outrage when he labelled the Pope the antichrist and said he would oppose plans to bring him to Northern Ireland.
The DUP founder member made the comments on Joe Duffy’s RTÉ Liveline radio show and fielded angry calls for an hour afterwards.
“The Pope is the antichrist… a lot of Protestants probably might not hold (that view) but it is still enshrined in the standards,” he said.
“It is a strong statement to make but in expressing those views I am not conflicting with the main teachings of the main churches.”
Mr Thompson worked as a civil servant at the Northern Ireland Office and Department of Education for 28 years before his appointment as a special advisor to Mr Dodds last year.
He attends Knock Evangelical Presbyterian Church in east Belfast where he is an elder.
The married father-of-three preaches regularly across the province and beyond. He lives near Stormont and is a member of the Independent Orange Order.
On the prospect of Pope Benedict visiting the North he said: “We would totally oppose that visit.
“We would have to say we do not want the Pope to come to Northern Ireland.”
Mr Thompson had originally challenged the Dean of St Patrick’s, Dr Robert MacCarthy, for selling rosaries in the church gift shop.
The Dean responded that the beads were sold because the shop attracted visitors of all denominations.
But as callers to the programme challenged Mr Thompson on his remarks, he made further criticisms of the Catholic faith.
“I couldn’t go to a funeral in a Roman Catholic Church,” said Mr Thompson.
“The priest makes blasphemous claims where he turns the bread into body and the wine into the blood and those things to me are anathema.”
Mr Thompson tonight said he was speaking in a personal capacity as Secretary of the Evangelical Protestant Society.
“It isn’t a political matter, I am entitled to my religious views,” he added.
“If you want a modern Northern Ireland at peace with itself let’s allow for those views to be expressed.”
SDLP Assembly member Dolores Kelly said Mr Thompson’s fundamentalist language was a throwback to Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
“I don’t think he has any right to deprive the people of the north and in particular the Catholic population an opportunity to greet and meet their spiritual leader,” she said.
“It is pretty pathetic and a throwback to what the Catholic population had to listen to during 30 years of conflict.”
Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long has been pressing for greater toleration in society.
“I think people will have to be much more aware when they hold public office as to how their personal views can impact.
“We don’t want to remove people’s right to freedom of expression but they should not use it to remove rights from others.”
Sinn Féin group leader in the Assembly, John O’Dowd, said: “While everyone is entitled to their own views and beliefs, there is a line that no civil servant should cross when making public statements.
“These comments are deeply insulting to many, many people across this island.
“People who make the decision to move into public life must also realise that they are responsible and indeed accountable for their comments.”
The DUP has emphasised that Mr Thompson was not speaking in a political capacity.
