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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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‘Appendix’ to - The ‘gospel truth’ according to ‘Father’ Paul Symonds |
Following the posting of The
‘gospel truth’ according to ‘Father’ Paul Symonds to our website I received
the following email on
Dear Mr
Andrews,
Just as a matter of accuracy, I should inform you that Fr Paul Symonds is no
longer a Jesuit priest. He resigned some time ago from the Jesuits and is
now a "diocesan" priest. In other words, he is a priest now
under the authority of a bishop within a diocese, rather than a priest under
the
authority of an Order. This is a very significant difference in status
which you may wish to reflect in a revised version of the currently
inaccurate article you are running on your website.
I do hope you won't mind this correction. The truth matters.
With love in Christ,
….
This was my reply of
Dear ….
Thank you for your email and
I should be very grateful if you would confirm to me the source of the
information that you have sent to me concerning your assertion that Paul
Symonds has resigned from the 'Society of Jesus'.
I am most willing to update
any 'out of date' information contained in any article but naturally need to be
certain that any such 'update' is grounded in fact.
You are quite
correct when you wrote 'truth matters' and
of course when it comes to 'gospel
truth' the question of whether or not Paul Symonds is or is not
still a Jesuit will not affect or alter the main thrust of this article which
is to identify the false 'gospel' of Roman Catholicism that sadly Paul Symonds
is wedded to.
I look forward
to hearing from you.
Your servant
for Christ
Cecil Andrews
'Take Heed'
Ministries
PS I should add that at the
time that Paul Symonds was denying to me that he was a Jesuit [in the run-up to
the public debate] he was also affirming to a neighbouring Protestant minister
that he was a Jesuit.
I received a reply to my email on 6 April and
herewith are the relevant extracts
Dear Cecil,
Thanks for your email. I totally agree about ‘Gospel Truth’. I
learned about Paul Symonds's departure from the Society of Jesus from friends
in the area where he is now a parish priest. It was much talked about a
year or more ago when it took place…There are many, like me, who trust
Take Heed because it is based on fact. I say that knowing that you agree
whole-heartedly on the importance of truth
Thanks for your email. God bless.
….
This was
my reply of
Dear ….
Many thanks for
your follow-up email and be assured that I will act upon what you have told me
- I just need to reflect on things and seek the Lord's guidance as to the best
way to attach and phrase what you have passed on to me.
Unlike a
certain gentleman in Rome I make no claims of 'infallibility' and unlike that
same certain gentleman in Rome I am not above correction and I am truly
grateful to the Lord for the many of His people like yourself who keep me
abreast of what is happening 'in the field'.
Your servant
for Christ
Cecil Andrews
In the light of this information, which I have
absolutely no reason to doubt, I would reaffirm that it in no way negates any
of the historical facts or judgments contained in my original article. In fact
it has actually I believe added to the ‘Jesuitical’ intrigue surrounding this
whole ‘affair’ – what do I mean by that?
Prior to being ‘posted’ to Ballymena, Paul Symonds
had to my knowledge served as an ‘ordinary’ parish priest in 2 other Roman
Catholic Dioceses in Northern Ireland - firstly as a priest based in Carryduff [this
is where he was based when I asked him to take part in the public debate] and then subsequently in Newtownabbey. As
his resignation from the ‘Society of Jesus’ is of such recent vintage obviously
his ‘membership’ of that order cannot have been any hindrance to his serving
Rome in that capacity of parish priest. So, the question is – why did he choose
to resign following his posting to Ballymena?
In the second email to me my ‘informant’ wrote – ‘…It
was much talked about a year or more ago when it took place’.
That would place the timing of it as probably being around late 2005/early
2006. Is there any significance to that timing? Well, as Max Bygraves [older
On
Greetings in our Saviour’s precious name. I see from the attached
Enclosed herewith is a ‘warning’ report on Paul
Symonds that I sent to ministers in the Newtownabbey area back in 1999 and it
now seems timely to send it on to yourself in order that you may “Take Heed” to
this man and may be fully informed about his tactics and theology.
With all good wishes.
Your servant for Christ
Cecil Andrews
That ‘warning’ report that I enclosed with the letter
did of course detail the ‘Jesuit credentials’ of Paul Symonds. The question I
now ask is this – was it just pure coincidence that Paul Symonds apparently
decided to resign from the Jesuits within approximately 6 months or so of my
letter and ‘warning’ report being sent out to ministers and pastors in the
Ballymena area? That is of course always a possibility but could there be an
alternative explanation?
Could it be that whilst carrying out his usual
ecumenical ‘overtures’ to churches in the Ballymena area that he was perhaps
being ‘challenged’ by some ministers or pastors about his ‘Jesuit credentials’
and was finding that his membership of the ‘Society of Jesus’ was proving to be
a stumbling block to his ecumenical endeavours and therefore decided that
tactically it would be a good move on his part to resign from that order. Only
Paul Symonds [and of course the God of Heaven] know precisely what it was that prompted
Paul Symonds, at that particular time and in that particular place, to resign
from the Jesuits.
Whatever the explanation for his decision [assuming
that it is fact] I would be
certain in my own mind that it was not motivated by any doctrinal recanting on
the part of Paul Symonds of anything that he publicly affirmed during the
debate in Carryduff. If a priest is truly converted, within a reasonable period
of time he will either resign or be removed [by the
Roman Catholic hierarchy] from
the priesthood.
In my original article I referred to the book ‘Far
from Rome: Near to God’ that chronicles the testimonies of 50
converted, former Roman Catholic priests and I quoted from the testimony of one
former Jesuit priest, Jose Rico.
I want to conclude with another quote from that book
and again it is from the testimony of a former Jesuit priest called Victor
Affonso. If you have ever watched the excellent video/DVD called ‘Catholicism:
Crisis of Faith’ Victor was the contributor who ‘inspirationally’ described
the Roman Catholic treatment of the Ten Commandments as ‘crookery’.
Victor was a successful business man in his native
India when he heard what he believed at that time to be the call of God and in
his own words this ‘led me to leave the world and join the Society of
Jesus, a missionary order that promised by its very title, its “Spiritual
Exercises” and Constitution to serve Jesus at any cost’
Following his true conversion to Christ, Victor wrote
‘The Roman Catholic hierarchy had requested me to stop teaching because I
had publicly admitted that some of their main dogmas and practices were
contrary to God’s Word in the Bible, making it a religion separated from the
one true church of Jesus Christ. The true church consists of believers who
uphold God’s Word without blatant perversions…now my conscience convinced me
that in remaining under the Roman Catholic authority or headship, I would be
forced to submit to teachings that were false and lies coming from the
anti-Christ spirit…These qualities were evident in the Roman Catholic Church
during the inquisition and murder of the reformers. The false dogmas have not
been changed at all by
In his letter of resignation ’From the Roman
Catholic Church and its Jesuit Order’ Victor wrote the following – ‘I,
Victor John Joseph Affonso, a disciple and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ,
saved by His precious blood…hereby declare my resignation from the membership
of the Roman Catholic Church and from its religious order called the Society of
Jesus…Henceforth I do not accept the headship of Roman Catholic authorities
since they deny the Bible…I hereby renounce all the religious vows taken in the
“Society of Jesus” which includes the special “cultic” vow of obedience to the
Roman Catholic Pope. I hereby renounce all false vows and consecrations to Mary
or to any other departed saint or created spirit that have been performed by me
or by anyone else on my behalf, with or without my knowledge’.
Just as a PS [post-script]
to this article on another ‘PS’
[Paul Symonds] I want to share extracts from some encouraging emails that I have
received in recent days. The first one came to me on
Dear Brother Andrews,
I just finished reading your recent
Current Concerns article entitled, "The gospel truth according to
'Father' Paul Symonds." As a former Roman Catholic, I more than
appreciate what you've taken the time and effort to document. Thank you for
continuing to 'earnestly contend for the faith' amid the perilous times in
which we're living. May the Lord heartily reward your labour and service to Him.
Your sister in Christ,
GG
The second
email actually arrived with me on
Hello Mr. Andrews!
My name is CL, and I'm a college student attending a school in the
One of my friends wants to do a project on Irish Catholicism, and some of the
particular / specific problems Irish Catholics have in regards to accepting the
true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I told him that I'm not sure how much different Catholics in
I have never been to
Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do in His
service. As an ex-Catholic who hails from an extended family that is
almost completely engrossed in Catholicism, I can tell you firsthand that
everything you do is worthwhile. Don't stop!
Sincerely,
CL