{"id":158289,"date":"2025-06-04T19:32:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158289\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T19:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:32:16","slug":"painful-decision-sees-christian-march-in-belfast-cancelled-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158289\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Painful decision\u2019 sees Christian march in Belfast cancelled \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A Christian march expected to include thousands of people in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/belfast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/belfast\/\">Belfast<\/a> city centre this weekend has been cancelled over \u201chealth and safety concerns.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The \u2018March for Jesus\u2019 event had been billed as \u201ca non-political, family friendly celebration of the Christian faith,\u201d to make \u201cthe name of Jesus Christ known in Belfast and throughout Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Open to multiple church denominations, it had been due to start at 2pm in Custom House Square and end in front of Belfast City Hall for \u201cworship, prayer and testimonies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A similar event was attended by thousands in Dublin last year, with another event planned for this September.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/council-investigating-demolition-of-listed-co-antrim-pub-RQUXTB5HVFA4HHNJ5YUJYWKBT4\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Council investigating demolition of listed Co Antrim pub\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IQIBC464XBHFTJS6SWENIWOGZI.png\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/two-northern-ireland-couples-have-discovered-they-are-not-legally-married-because-they-are-heterosexual-6KRQ2RGC4ZDQTB3CY46GV5BIRA\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Two Northern Ireland couples have discovered they are not legally married - because they are heterosexual\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C6U7ZQKP2RJTNAMN2XIM6RJ33M.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Belfast march was organised by All Nations Church in Dublin, with the event listed on the Parades Commission website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Posting on the event\u2019s Facebook page on Wednesday, organiser Pastor John Ahern from All Nations said: \u201cAfter much prayer, discussion, and consultation with Belfast City authorities, we have made the painful decision to cancel this Saturday\u2019s March for Jesus Belfast. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis decision certainly wasn\u2019t taken lightly. However, due to significant logistical challenges and health and safety concerns with the large crowds that were expected, we could not go forward as planned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"The March for Jesus event had been due to take place in Belfast this Saturday.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/VGUXN7GH7VAKPCC6LVGJFB4WB4.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"433\"\/>The March for Jesus event had been due to take place in Belfast this Saturday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Speaking to the Irish News, Pastor Paul Burns from the King\u2019s Christian Fellowship Church in Sandy Row claimed that the PSNI had made the decision to pull the event at short notice, despite having permission from the Parades Commission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He questioned how this could happen when other parades regularly take place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis means Northern Ireland is no longer a safe place for the Christian church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The PSNI has been contacted for a response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: \u201cThe cobbled area outside the gates of City Hall is managed by the council on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAs with all requests to use this space, we will engage with the event organisers to ensure that the appropriate event management plans are in place to deliver the proposed activities safely. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis process also includes engagement with PSNI and any other relevant statutory authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Christian march expected to include thousands of people in Belfast city centre this weekend has been cancelled&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,1144,66984,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-158289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-parades-commission","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114626766156833549","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}