The recent angry reaction of Muslim leaders and peoples to the speech of Pope Benedict in which he quoted a medieval reference by a European leader about the Koran underlined the fact that the new Pope's reign as leader of the Roman Catholic church is likely to be a stormy one.
It was somewhat ironical that a number of Protestant churches were the target of arsonists following the Pope's statement, seeing that Protestants were not involved in the controversy.
It cannot be denied that many parts of the world where Muslims are the predominant religion displays intolerance towards Christianity and denies followers of Christ the opportunity of worshipping according to their beliefs.
Perhaps it is understandable if many Muslims do not find any difference in the Protestant and Roman Catholic approach to Islam and the Muslim world.
The fact is that a distinct Protestant stance on many issues is hardly ever heard these days, and many Protestant leaders do not broadcast the fact that their tradition is separate from that of Rome.
No wonder the Pope appears to speak for 'Christianity' as a whole, when he makes statements nowadays. The Protestant and Reformed attitude these days seems to be one of quiet support for the Roman Catholic line on matters of morality and relations with other faiths.
World Protestantism today is a mere shadow of its former greatness when it comes to echoing the view of Luther, Calvin, Knox, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and other great Reformers and letting the world know that it is separate from Roman Catholicism.
Even Reformation Sunday is played down, and if it were not for Orange and Black services, it is doubtful if this day would be marked by most of our mainstream Protestant churches.
All this can be traced back to the formation of the World Council of Churches, and the increase in the influence and importance of the ecumenical movement following Vatican Two in the early 1960s, and the visit of the then Archbishop of Canterbury and other Protestant church leaders to Rome.
Since then there has been a tendency of Protestant Church leaders to fall over themselves to toady up to Rome. There are, of course, many brave individual clergymen and ministers who have not been afraid to speak up and remind people that Protestantism still means a lot to many people.
Had it not been for the Reformation and the spread of Protestantism to many European countries, the age of enlightenment might not have happened, but would certainly have been delayed.
Protestants paid a very high price for the courage of the Reformers. The massacres and destruction of the Huguenots in France, the almost complete elimination of Protestantism in what is now the Czech Republic, the dreadful Spanish Inquisition with its burning of 'heretics' is a sad litany.
In the British Isles, hundreds of Protestant martyrs were burned alive during the reign of 'Bloody' Mary, and of course tens of thousands of Protestants were murdered or expelled from Ulster and Munster during the 1641 Rebellion.
One doesn't have to go far back to find examples of Roman Catholic intolerance. During the Second World War nearly a million Serb Orthodox Christians were murdered or forced to convert to Roman Catholicism by the Fascist Ustashi movement.
The Ustashi were supported by the Roman Catholic puppet state of Croatia established by the Nazis during their occupation of Yugoslavia, and many Roman Catholic priests were involved in the atrocities against the Serbs.
All this is historical fact, but everyone hopes that those terrible times have gone, and that religious tolerance will operate throughout the world.
Undoubtedly things have improved as far as Protestant-Roman Catholic church relationships are concerned, but Protestants are still regarded as 'separated brethren' by Rome, and not as Christian equals.
That cannot be denied, as a document a few years ago, which was influenced largely by Cardinal Ratinzer, now Pope Benedict, described Protestant Churches as 'Christian communities'. The document certainly did not acknowledge Protestant Churches as being equal to Roman Catholicism, and even 'liberal' and 'moderate' Protestants were dismayed.
It did not come as any surprise to Orangemen or to Protestants proud of their tradition.
But true Protestants, including Orangemen, are prepared to constantly work for better relationships with all other religions, including Roman Catholics, without sacrificing dearly held freedoms earned at terrible cost down the centuries.
