Catholic social club ousts coven of witches

Witch came first

If the witch lady knew her stuff, she could always point out to the Rev how much the Catholic church had taken from older religions that they would regard as pagan.

Hijacking the mid-winter Saturnalia festival, for example, and using that for Christmas.

Taking spring fertility celebrations and using that for Easter (they didn't even bother to invent a new name for that one - look up the derivation of the word Easter if you don't know it.)

Building their churches on sites that were sacred in the older religions.

Even adopting the cross as their principal symbol.

OTOH, I do think she had a bit of a cheek trying to get a church hall...

Paris because she undoubtedly knows someone who would hire out a room to them.

Playmobil

There hasn't been a story more suited to plastic figurine based re-enactment for ages!

Your public awaits...

To be fair..

..at least they haven't been burnt at the stake.

Why would you expect an organisation hardly known for it's abundant inclusivity and liberal thinking, to allow you to use their sacrosanct premises to entertain a polar opposite belief system?

Would a pentangle of Satanists expect to be well recieved?

Aren't the woods the ideal place for witchy gatherings? Or the Crystal Palace/Fortress if you want to be a smart arse.

Aren't witches sexist, or do they allow warlocks?

Where's the IT angle? :P

Aren't we all God's/Gaia's children?

Where's the Love?

Why bother?

All important questions.

Like Bringing Bacon Baps to a Barmitzvah

Perhaps the Catholics should arrange for their next Inquisition to take place around the witches' cauldron.

pictures...

or it didn't happen

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Catholics, witchcraft - fail to see the difference.

Hmmm

"Parish centres under our auspices let their premises on the understanding users and their organisations are compatible with the ethos and teachings of the Catholic church" but It would appear that gambling is OK...

Sue them

I'm not one for litigation, normally, but they should sue on the grounds of religious discrimination. Of course, the Catholics would probably argue that they answer to a higher power. And, as we all know, that higher power decrees love, peace and harmony - unless he doesn't like them, in which case he decrees mass murder\ethnic cleansing\smiting (choose your own preferred term).

You can see why this wouldn't work

It's a bit like Linux and Microsoft. Though witch is evil, I couldn't say...

Everyone should lighten up

Honestly, you summon a few measly spawn of Satan and suddenly the whole word is against you. sheesh

""We thought we were bridging the gap with other religions..."

To be fair, the parish simply told them to go away. Beats getting burned at the stake for your troubles. I'd call that progress.

Flames for the cauldron of course.

ban catholics!

yeah, i don't want people with incompatible beliefs living in my country, lets burn 'em all for food & fuel and use the churches to house the homeless.

if their god objects he'll do something about it, surely.

Burn thee, Wytche and Catholicke!

This is naught but an vile anachronistic bedevilrie, I prithee! Such individuall as aforespoke hath not one place in this time of heathen rationalry. Mark these words and return their wicked sowells back from whence they hath arrived, to the century of playgue, fylth and Shaykespyr. Or, at the verrie least, By The Lord's Dyvyne Hand, removeth of their besmyrcked fayces their 3G moabyl telyphoans and of their desk the broad-banded inter webbe for of this madjick, they have not an atomme of apprecyation.

Curseth they awl! And a pox on their festivities and diseased halls, both!

This doesn't suprise me...

...although the church was much more welcome in days past. Just think a couple of hundred years ago and they would've laid on a nice fire with steaks all round, and maybe organised a nice dip in a nearby river.

...I'll get me coat.

On a serious note, I wish them good luck in finding another venue, and that all goes well.

Silly pagans...

They should be drinking Christ's blood and eating his body like the rest of us, instead of their silly rituals.

Get over it

Well, it IS their building. I don't know about the U.K., but in the U.S. the diocese would be free to bar anyone they feel is imcompatible with their religious viewpoint.

Oust these backward religions!

Too right we should have nothing to do with a weird barbaric cult who gather and pretend to munch on the flesh of their deity's offspring... oh wait that's the catholics!

Not surprised, really

Coming from a Catholic background I'm not at all surprised by this. I've always found followers of the faith to be somewhat stuffy and old-fashioned (rightly or wrongly). But, then again, would your local Catholic church give over its building for a meeting of Muslims, Protestants or (Heaven forbid) Evangelists?? Possibly not.

It's a shame for the witches. I hope someone else offers them a venue. If not, maybe they could turn the local Catholic priest into a frog.

Clash of the invisible sky fairies!

I don't know what the laws are like across the pond, but this would be a legal no no in the former colonies. Once you make facilities available to the general public you can't discriminate against who can rent them out.

it baffles me that people still believe in all this superstitious junk in the 21st century. H00mans are so silly.

Retard Alert

"Does the Church check everyone's beliefs"

Extraordinarily classic. A group of people that think they're hobbits not only tried to insult their arch nemesis by having a party in their club house, but then had the brilliance to ask the mother of all stupid questions when the attempt fails.

Are you sure this wasn't a coven of retards? Do they need a reminder of what the International Pedophile Club used to do to people they thought where witches over the last couple thousand years?

They ought to know that the only magic tricks allowed are from the babies of virgins that can walk on water, turn wine into beer (or something) and whose blood is a fine claret.

For an encore why not go to church next Sunday and ask for 'kings'* instead of salvation.

*If they're allowed to play at being witches in real life, I'm allowed to pretend the local vicar is a pally who can grant me World of Warcraft magical enhancements.

@ Cameron Colley

"they obviously aren't sure about their own, or they believe in both faiths in which case they're hypocrites."

There's no hypocracy involved in believing there's more than one way to recognise divinity, and that no one path is 'the one true way'...

I'm not connected with that coven - or indeed any other - but I'd suggest one reason for the use of a church hall is that in many places there's not much alternative... not every town has a suitable-sized hall for group rituals, that also has sufficient parking, accomodation nearby for people coming from a distance etc, other than the church hall.

Of course, the 'tabloid' image of paganism , as illustrated by whichever numbskull above was talking about 'Wickerman' doesn't help when you're trying to find a venue either...

As for discrimination against pagans in the UK, it's easy to sidestep the law because at the moment there's no officially-accepted definition of 'pagan' that any reasonable percentage of pagans can sign up to - 'pagan' is an umbrella-term that covers a huge variety of belief and practice... you've got more hope of herding cats than pigeon-holing pagans, it's in their nature to be in a constant state of flux because the pagan life-journey is all about 'the quest to learn' rather than claiming to 'already know everything' the way most faiths do.

Blessed Be, Richard

(Paris, because she'd look good skyclad. ;-) )

@ Dan Breen

It's very difficult to call someone or something intolerant and bigoted without coming across as an intolerant bigot yourself.

come off it

Do you expect the Conservative Association to be allowed to hold a meeting at the Labour Club?

By the way, they did not burn witches ...

It is a common misconception that witches were burned. Mostly, witches were hanged, while heretics were burned.

Also, before someone starts down this path ... the "burning times", as commonly conceived, is an urban legend. Most of the people hung as witches in the late middle ages were Christian, and about half were men. Mostly, it was a Protestant, not a Catholic phenomena. There was no "wicca' in Europe at that time; they are a 20th Century movement.

Let me guess.

Witches are people who believe in some mad idea like magic, whereas Catholics believe, quite rationally that a hairy faced man sitting on a cloud created the universe in 6 days, and then rested.

Oh, and he can read all our thoughts.

Silly sods

Speaking from experience, there are plenty of churches who hire out space to pagans or the like, as long as you're fairly discreet and wash up any dishes and cups afterwards. This woman clearly doesn't understand the implicit understanding about being discreet, that's all. This talk about it being "discriminatory" is ridiculous -- I bet the woman didn't mention they were witches when they booked, and if they had they would have reasonably been turned away immediately, just like the Hell's Angels, etc., but now that she been "offended" she can play the "oppressed minority" card to gain attention. Any sane person would just book another venue; but then anyone else wouldn't be able to get this kind of publicity -- look at the shot in the Telegraph where they've all got dressed up in robes (Is that Sally Griffin in the background? She's looking old these days...) -- and it becomes obvious this has been done more with the intent of promoting paganism than for airing a genuine grievance. Of course the church in question (like any other non-public place) is entitled to refuse anyone they damn well please -- what a pathetic whinge!

In the wider context, pagans have experienced a few problems in the past over employment discrimination and the like, but they're no longer a genuinely oppressed minority. A few of them do, however, still have a lot of access to the media because of the contacts that were made at the time of the Satanic Ritual Abuse scandals. Hence today's entertainment. Ultimately, paganism is a large minority with a lot of media clout, but more importantly it has a lot of young women who like to dance naked, so I've always been a keen supporter and I wouldn't say a word against it. ;-)

So witches want access to churches...

Pagans request access to christian premises to conduct their rituals and are refused.

Boo hoo.

I doubt Muslims would be allowed to worship in synagogues or vice-versa and I don't expect anyone would see anything unusual in that. Why are people whining here?

Oh, I know... because it's easy to Catholic-bash and get away with it.

@ Andy Bright

Brilliant!

And it's about the only thing that would get me into a church.