The National Church has apologised for promoting an event being held in Iceland, where a key speaker is missionary Franklin Graham, renowned for his anti-gay views.
“Festival of Hope” will take place in Laugardalshöll end of September and was advertised on the website of the National Church, although it’s not the organiser of the function.
Some priests are far from happy about Graham’s visit and don’t want the institution to have anything to do with the event. Amongst them is Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir who simply commented “fuck” on a Facebook page where the National Church’s involvement was questioned.
Sigríður then added in another comment that it was “ridiculous” for the institution to promote the festival on its website and that she had complained to the head office.
On Thursday, any mention of the festival was removed from the National Church’s website and instead an apology posted, explaining that the festival was being organised by volunteers and that the institution was not responsible for inviting Franklin Graham to Iceland.
Furthermore, they stated that it was regrettable that the promotion was posted same day as the Gay Pride festival commenced in Reykjavík, which could have indicated that the Church was criticising gay people and their campaigning for rights. That had not been the case. Nor had it been the intention to overshadow the Gay Pride festival or show an approval of Graham’s views on homosexuality.
News of Franklin Graham’s visit has caused an outrage by many on social media, where people are now being urged to book tickets for Franklin Graham’s lectures at the festival, but not show up and leave him preaching to an empty auditorium. Franklin is notorious for his views against gay lifestyle and his opposition of gay marriage.
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