Courageous speaker will join us on St Patrick's Day
It's a huge privilege to have Finnish MP Dr Päivi Räsänen as the preacher at our St Patrick’s Day Festival Service in Down Cathedral on Tuesday 17 March.
Päivi Rasanen has become known worldwide for her courageous defence of free speech and recently testified before US Congress about her six-year-long criminal prosecution for tweeting a Bible verse under Finnish “hate speech” law. She and a co-defendant have twice been aquitted but await the ruling of the Finnish Supreme Court.
Päivi is an eight-term member of the Finnish Parliament, the former chairperson of the Christian Democrats and Minister of the Interior. She is a medical doctor and has also published several books, where she reflects deeply on major questions of life and society, such as values, ethics, and faith.
Read about Päivi's case on the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International website HERE.
Invitation
We warmly invite you to join us for the Festival Service at 11.45am followed by a complimentary ‘Picnic in the Pews’. You are also welcome to Holy Communion at Saul where the preacher will be Mr Ian Bingham, Director of CARE NI and the Prayer Pilgrimage to Down Cathedral.
PROGRAMME
9.15am: Holy Communion at Saul
10.15am: Prayer Pilgrimage from Saul to Downpatrick
11.45am: Festival Service in Down Cathedral followed by the wreath laying ceremony at St Patrick’s Grave
1.00pm: Complimentary ‘Picnic in the Pews’
Transport to Saul
Please park along the Mall leading to the Cathedral in Downpatrick and board one of the private buses.
Buses to the communion service depart between 8.15 and 8.45am. The last bus for the 35-minute pilgrimage leaves at 9.45am. The last bus from Saul to the Cathedral leaves at 10.40 am.