Priest calls police on man who wasn't wearing mask at church for medical reasons
Episode Stats
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Summary
Nick Lazzuto is a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He tells the story of being asked to leave a Catholic church because he was not wearing a mask during mass. The situation escalated to the point where the priest called the police.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show. You know, all around the
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world, Catholic churches are oftentimes shut down, but you also have this, you know, participation
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in the mass with 15%, 30%, whatever it is, often with, you know, masking required and
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so on. But that's similar to some stores which have a percentage allowed and yes, masking
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required. But the law always stipulates that there are exemptions. Exemptions when people
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have real conditions which don't allow them to wear a mask and the stores all accept that
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because that's what's legal. However, certain churches, which are also the ones actually
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that want to shut down everything anyway, but certain churches have taken it upon themselves
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to become uber authorities such that they dictate, no, we're not going for medical exemptions
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and we're going to deal with one of those churches today. You're going to want to stay tuned.
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Let's begin as we always do at the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father and of
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All right. So, Nick, you are in the Diocese of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, and you've got a
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very interesting story of what transpired with you at the Basilica in Ottawa. Why don't
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Okay. Both my wife and I went to St. Patrick's Basilica. St. Patrick's is not our parish, but
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we often go there if we miss the nine o'clock mass, and we happened to be there a few weeks
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ago. We entered the Basilica at around 1130, and we started some prayers prior to mass.
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Within about 10 minutes that we were kneeling and saying our prayers, one of the employees
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of the church came up to me and said, you need to leave. And I said, why? Because you're
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not wearing a mask. And I quickly said to him, well, I have a medical condition, and I'm well
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within the bylaw. That doesn't matter. You need to leave. And I said, you know what? I'm
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going to continue my prayers, and we'll just go from there. And he said, well, I will have
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to call a priest to deal with you. I said, go right ahead. So, Father, one of the priests
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at the parish came out, I believe it was Father Amas, and he very rudely asked me to leave
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as well. And I said, with all due respect, Father, I am in the middle of my prayers, and
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I would like to finish my prayers. And I insisted on saying, of course, I didn't move. He proceeded
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to call the police. A few minutes later, the police arrives. And of course, we go through
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the same scene again with the officer. And I said to the officer, officer, you're interrupting
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my prayers. I wish to complete my prayers, and then we'll talk. Well, he said, you know
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what? You're making an embarrassment of yourself, and this is going to get worse. You've got all
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kinds of people looking at you. And I said, officer, these people are also looking at you
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as well. And so, this went on for a while, and he called for reinforcements. He called another
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officer in. He was somewhat a little more polite than the first officer, and he said, well, you know
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what? We really do need to talk about this. And I turned to my wife. By this time, we're getting
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close to quarter after 12 when Mass was about to begin. So, in order to respect the parishioners
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that were there so that Mass could actually start taking place and put this comedy to rest,
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I said to my wife, you know what? Let's go out with this officer, and let's see exactly
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how we can resolve this. So, all in the meantime, as I'm walking to the back of the church with
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my wife behind me, of course, I'm praying the divine mercy and felt very much at ease and
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peace. And at the back of the church, the officer that preceded me said, he put his hand on my
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shoulders, and he said, how's your mental health? And I was a little bit surprised. I said, my mental
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health is fine. How's yours? And he said, and he burst out loud and says, mine is fine. Can we go
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outside and talk about this? As soon as we stepped outside the church, he looks at me and he says,
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you know what? We don't really have anything to charge you with. We thought that maybe you were some
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drunk that went off to, came into the church, and you were causing a disturbance. Clearly, you were
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not. You were praying. We could see that. And you seemed to be of good mental state. I said, yeah,
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well, thank you for noticing that. And so, we had a brief conversation, and then he said to me,
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well, look, you know what? I know you're going to go to some kind of a higher authority about this. I
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said, I certainly will. Would you let us know? Because we want to know how to deal with this kind of
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complaint, because basically, you weren't doing anything wrong. I said, thank you, officer.
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So, we chatted briefly, and we went home. And as soon as I got home, I sent an email,
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an anecdotal email to the bishop to let them know how I felt about this. There were emails that went
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back and forth through his secretary, but basically, they gave me a polite apology, but were not willing
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to really question the pastor and the fact that they had really superseded the bylaw. The bylaw is
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quite clear. I do have a medical condition. Therefore, I cannot wear a mask. And I have not
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been wearing a mask for well over a year. So, when I saw that this was beginning to be
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a kind of a series, I stopped the emails and I said, look, you know how I feel, and it doesn't look
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like you really want to investigate this further. Therefore, I will definitely consider legal action
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because I'm being discriminated against. And that was the end of that. And that's really where it's,
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Right. Now, what's really fascinating about this, we, we have some footage from you because your,
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your wife who was there with you was, was actually filming after a bit. So, we're going to play some
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of that. But one thing to note is your wife was wearing a mask. So,
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so this is the thing they, they obviously see you with your wife, see her in compliance of their big
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rules. And yet the law stipulates, there is this exemption for medical conditions. You presented with
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that and they take no, they actually go over and above the law. And yet, and they're supposed to be
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a church, not turning people away. And another thing to point out in the church, were you socially
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distanced from other people? Well, my goodness, uh, 20, 25 feet from the closest pew. Yeah. So,
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you know, I mean, really? Yeah. I mean, St. Patrick's Basilica is a huge church and, and, uh, on weekday
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masses, very few people there. So it's an unbelievable. Um, so we're going to play a couple of clips,
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but before we do, I just want to mention the priest in question is actually the associate rector,
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Fr. Stephen Amess. And the rector there, uh, is Fr. Kevin Beach and, or Monsignor Kevin Beach. Um,
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we want to encourage you to, you know, really make your views known about this, uh, in, in a polite
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way, but they need to respect the rights of Catholics to have the Holy Sacrifice, the mass. And while they
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are complying with the law to be allowed that, what right, which is only, which is only theirs,
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the number at the church there at St. Patrick's Basilica, 613-233-1125. We've got to stand up and
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support Catholics like Nick who are being discriminated against unfairly by certain Catholic
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pastors in the church. We can't stand for it. The faithful need to stand up. Nick, why don't we
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go ahead and take a look at some of your video? Let's play a clip of it now.
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I'm standing up for my rights to, to worship my God. No, we're not. I'm not leaving. Okay.
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You bring it on. I know my legal rights. I'm, I'm worshiping God and I don't need, I don't
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need to tell you anymore. I've already given you an answer. It's going to go well. You need
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to leave. You know what? The priest has asked you to leave. You have to leave. This is his
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parish. You need to leave. He doesn't own this parish. We are all part of this church.
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I'm a member of this church. I cannot be sent out. You leave on your own or you're going
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to leave in handcuffs. It's what you pick your choice. Well, you know what? I'm giving you an
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option. Let's go. You leave on your own or you leave in handcuffs. You know what? Don't
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threaten me. He wants you out of the parish. So leave. That's fine. You have your options.
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We do. So we'll start walking out. We will walk out. Respect everybody else in this church.
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You're not respecting my rights. Let's go. Have a good day. Let's go.
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You know, obviously you were calm and you were collected, actually. And as you said,
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you were said earlier, you had, you know, been praying the divine mercy prayer. So I think that
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obviously gave you a lot of peace. What is your motivation right now in terms of coming forward
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with this? What's your message to both the faithful and to the priests?
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Well, first of all, I think as Christians, we're living through a very turbulent time. And regardless
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of where this happens, we have to be cognizant of what the bylaws are and we have to respect the
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bylaws. And no one is above the law, including our clergy. And especially when the bishop of our
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diocese sent a very clear letter stating that they need to respect medical conditions. They quoted the
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bylaw and they talked about the bylaw. But this particular priest went over and above, therefore
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disobeying his bishop and took matters in his own hands. So when that sort of things happened,
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when that sort of thing happened, I mean, I'm very adamant about protecting just human rights,
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never mind the fact that I was deprived of a mass and a Eucharist in the process, because that's the
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purpose as to why I went to church. So over and above that, I am more than willing to and probably
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will consider legal action because this particular incident needs to be corrected. And when several
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attempts were made to get some kind of an explanation as to why, they offered me a polite,
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a polite apology. But I really don't think that goes far enough. I mean, you know, I respect the
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clergy. I have all the respect for them. These are not easy times for them as well. But when they
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themselves contravene a very clear bylaw, then there needs to be some kind of a consequence that
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has to follow. And that's precisely what I'm going to go after.
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Yeah. I mean, it is, it is incredible by rights. You know, I've, I've watched several pastors of
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evangelical churches really go the other way and, and, and say to the authorities, look,
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we can't shut our churches down. We've got to keep them open for the faithful because Christ would
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not turn away anyone. Christ had his doors open to all people and invited them to eternal life and
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to come and worship together. Particular, we are simply saying it's impossible theologically
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for the Christian church to close its doors to those who have been branded by society in the,
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in our particular time as being socially undesirable is absolutely anathema to the Christian gospel.
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A Christian argument could only, could never say that physical health and protection is the
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paramount and ultimate thing. A Christian argument must say that eternal health is infinitely more
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important. But if the church itself doesn't recognize that it is even more important than
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hospitals for the body, then we really do have a problem.
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And in days of old, when they had plagues and so on, they multiplied the masses. They made more of
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them because they knew that, you know, these things come through the permissive will of God,
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because they are for us also a punishment for sin. And yet here we are doing the exact opposite of what
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we need to be doing. It's absolutely incredible. Nick, I want to thank you for coming forward with
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this and also encourage you to, you know, continue on, even to go back to that parish, although to that
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church, although it might be, you know, difficult, but I think really would be good for them to be able
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to treat you properly and recognize the error of their ways.
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Well, you know what, again, we're all about forgiveness as well. And I have no issues with
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that. I will definitely contact the parish and politely ask them to resolve this in some way.
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And it will not stop them from attending mass there. Now that we're back to 15% as of this,
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as of this Friday, we don't know what our government is going to do next. But in terms of our freedom to
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worship our God, freedom of religion, we have to stand up for this. I mean, this is, they are going
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against our Charter of Rights, and they're going against the Constitution. And no emergency act
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supersedes our Charter of Rights and Constitution. So I'm well versed in that area. And I'm going to
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keep pressing the issue until the situation changes. And until we get full attendance in all
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of our churches, be it Protestant or Catholic, because we need to defend our faith here. And we
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need to move forward and receive the sacraments. That's the bottom line. Not out of choice, but out of
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necessity. As of last July, when I found out what was really going on behind, you know, the Great
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Reset, etc., etc., I became a political activist. And I, to this day, I continue to be a political
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activist. We have teamed up with three or four other researchers. We've put a presentation together
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that really exposes the fraud behind COVID, etc. So we've been doing that and going person in person
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via Zoom live for the last two months and a half. And we'll see where that goes. We're trying to find
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strategies to push back this great evil. And, you know, that's part of what we need to do as
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Christians, but not we're not all called to do what we do what we do. Therefore, we encourage others and we
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inform them. We educate others to really open their eyes as to what's really going on and what's
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causing this turbulence. And we cannot take this for granted. You know, we go back to the early church,
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good God, how many martyrs did we have that stood up for the faith? Surely we can stand up to these
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corrupt governments, this global Great Reset, and replace it with a great Christian reawakening.
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And that's really what I'm working on. So that's that.
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Amen. Thank you so much, Nick, for being with us on this episode of the John Henry Weston Show.
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Thank you, John. God bless you too. We'll talk again.
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