THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270566
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
The Rev. Ian Paisley visited the university founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson on Thursday, but Robertson said the militant Irish Protestant leader's appearance came without his knowledge.
Robertson, an evangelical Christian who has made recent overtures to conservative Catholics and met two weeks ago with Pope John Paul II in New York, was out of town and didn't meet with Paisley, said Gene Kapp, Robertson's spokesman.
Officials of Robertson's Regent University said Paisley, who is viewed with suspicion by many American Catholics, was invited by a group of students to give a talk about international politics and religious freedom.
``I guess Ian Paisley wouldn't have been my poster boy for Regent University,'' said J. Nelson Happy, dean of Regent's law school, where Paisley spoke to about 150 students and faculty members. ``But it shows a maturing of the institution, a willingness to permit different opinions.''
Robertson wasn't consulted about the visit, said Happy, who said he didn't learn of the invitation until Wednesday. Paisley's talk was not announced in advance, although it was open to anyone who wanted to attend.
Paisley spoke for about 20 minutes about the risk to religious liberty posed by a world government, Happy said. He touched on the centuries-old struggle between Protestants and Catholics in northern Ireland only during a question-and-answer session, the dean said.
One of the questioners was Keith Fournier, executive director of Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice. Fournier, a Catholic, said he was disturbed by some of what he heard.
``I don't question his right to be here,'' Fournier said. ``But to me, Ian Paisley is to religious liberty what David Duke is to racial equality.''
Kapp said Robertson respects the right of free expression but rejects and condemns anti-Catholic bigotry from any source.
Regent's law school, with about 350 students, has been a center of past rebellion within the religious broadcaster's Christian Broadcasting Network complex.
When Herbert W. Titus was forced out as dean two years ago, several professors complained to the American Bar Association, prompting an angry response from Robertson about the impact on the school's still-pending bid for accreditation. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The Rev. Ian Paisley
by CNB