Leaders in evangelical Christian community, which includes large numbers of immigrants, are urging their congregations to say no in historic referendum
Tens of thousands of Christian immigrants who have become Irish citizens are being mobilised across the Republic to vote down a historic move to legalise gay marriage in Ireland this week.
While liberal Roman Catholic priests and nuns are defying their bishops to urge a yes vote on Friday, religious leaders in the evangelical Christian community are now placing their congregations on the frontline of the battle to persuade Ireland to say no.
The Irish Republic is the first country in the world to hold a referendum to decide on whether or not the state should allow gay marriage. If passed, the right of gay couples to marry will be incorporated into the Republic’s constitution.
In the yes corner are radical Catholic clergy such as Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, a lifelong anti-poverty campaigner who backed gay marriage last week. On the no side, more than 30 born-again Christian pastors originally from Africa and representing dozens of churches are urging their congregations to help defeat marriage equality.
As campaigning enters its last week, both sides accept the gap between yes and no is narrowing. An opinion poll published by the Irish Times newspaper had the yes vote on 58% and the no vote on 25%, with 17% indicating they were undecided.
But a previous poll found that, among the age group with the highest voting rate in Ireland – the over-65s– a majority say they would reject the move to equal marriage. And organisers of an evangelical alliance for a no vote believe that the votes of up to 200,000 African and eastern European immigrants, many of them conservative Christians and Muslims, could help swing the vote in favour of no on 22 May.
Across the key battleground of Dublin, evangelical and Pentecostal pastors are actively encouraging their congregations to vote no….read more…….