Fresh Catholic hate in Northern Ireland

 

Police in Northern Ireland investigate burning of Pope Francis image

Michael Kelly July 13, 2022

People watch as the completed Craigyhill bonfire burns on the '11th night' to usher in the 12th of July celebrations in Larne, Northern Ireland, July 11, 2022. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it is investigating a possible crime after an image of Pope Francis was burned in another bonfire in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters)

DUBLIN (CNS) — The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it is investigating a possible crime after an image of Pope Francis was burned in a bonfire.

Other fires — lit by Protestants to commemorate a battle 332 years ago which ended the Catholic monarchy in England — also contained signs reading “kill all Taigs,” a derogatory term for Catholics.

Posters and images of prominent politicians from a Catholic background also were set ablaze during the so-called “eleventh night” bonfires on the eve of the July 12 commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne.

In a statement July 13, the police service said it is “gathering evidence” about the incidents.

An image of Pope Francis was erected on a pyre in north Belfast along with election posters belonging to the Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin and the Palestinian flag.

At other sites, election posters belonging to the Social Democratic and Labor Party and Alliance Party, both supporters of Irish unification, and People Before Profit, an electoral alliance, also appeared on bonfires, as did signs bearing the message “KAT” — kill all Taigs.

The police said it had “received a number of complaints relating to flags, effigies, election posters and other emblems being placed on bonfires.”

“We are gathering evidence in respect of these complaints and will review to establish whether offences have been committed,” a police spokesman said.

Sinn Féin councillor Gary McCleave, whose election poster appeared on a bonfire in Belfast, tweeted saying, “Tonight I am having to answer questions from my children who came across this on social media why their Daddy is on a bonfire to be burnt. This is not culture, it is a hate crime. Those within political unionism need to show leadership and stand up against this sectarian hatred.”

July 12 is celebrated by many Protestants as the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne which took place in 1690 in what is now the Irish Republic along the Boyne River. The forces of the Catholic King James II of England and Ireland were defeated by the Dutch prince William of Orange who went on to rule as King William III.

James, the last Catholic king of England, died in exile in France in 1701 and his defeat in 1690 marked the decisive end of attempts to regain the monarchy for Catholic hands.

Orangemen — who set the bonfires each year — take their name from William of Orange.

Remembering Bloody Sunday

 

50th anniversary of the "Bloody Sunday" shootings, in Derry 

WORLD

• NORTHERN IRELAND
• POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Northern Ireland: Bloody Sunday commemorated 50 years on

This weekend the people of Derry are commemorating the victims of the “Bloody Sunday” massacre in the city, seen as one of the defining moments in Northern Ireland’s 30-year-long conflict.

By Vatican News staff reporter

It’s been fifty years since British soldiers killed 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers in what has become known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Family and friends of the 13 Catholics who died in Derry (Londonderry) on 30 January 1972 - and of a 14th who died later of his wounds - gathered this week for a series of commemorations to mark this tragic event.

They also vowed they would not give up their call for prosecutions.

The bloodshed in Northern Ireland was to last for decades until the Good Friday peace agreement was signed in April of 1998, bringing an end to 30 years of conflict known as the “Troubles”.

In 2010, the Saville judicial inquiry found that the victims on the day were innocent and had posed no threat to the military.

The current British government last year announced a plan to halt all prosecutions of soldiers and militants in a bid to draw a line under the conflict.

The massacre on Bloody Sunday took place in the Bogside area of the City of Derry. Its current bishop, Donal McKeown, spoke to Vatican News about healing the wounds of the past and looking to the future with hope.

Faith and courage

“I think about the dignity of many people, the courage of many people, the strength of many people who have come through this, particularly because of their faith background; because the future belongs to those who can generate hope from the past rather than despair.”

Architects of the future not prisoners of the past

Speaking to Fabio Colegrande, Bishop McKeown said as people gather to remember the events that took place in Derry fifty years ago this weekend, he would be asking them to “look at the past with compassion; to forgive and remember, and be able to move on because we deserve to be architects of the future and not prisoners of the past.”

Following years of conflict which led to the deaths of 3,000 people, the Bishop of Derry noted that much work has been achieved in building a strong relationship between both the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

“The Church leaders were way ahead of politicians,” he said.

Ecumenical relations

At a Mass this weekend to mark this milestone anniversary, Bishop McKeown was joined by his Anglican counterpart. There was also expected to be an ecumenical service at the monument in Creggan, Derry, which commemorates all those who lost their lives on that tragic day.

The Bishop noted that the tensions that lay behind Northern Ireland’s conflict are still there but “the war is over”.

He also said that, in today’s Northern Ireland, “differences of opinion, differences of identity can be celebrated; not seen as something to be feared, and I hope that we as Church leaders can ensure that whatever direction the island take,d whatever direction Europe takes, it is a society that is able to process the pain of being human; process the pain of the past and build hope for the future.”