Gov't, church hid priest's suspected role in blast

[Praxius]

Gov't, church hid priest's suspected role in blast - CTV News

The British government and the Roman Catholic church colluded to cover up the suspected involvement of a priest in a 1972 bombing that killed nine people and injured 30, a new report said Tuesday.

The Northern Ireland police ombudsman's report determined that Father James Chesney was the prime suspect in the blast in the village of Claudy, just outside of Londonderry and that the police chose not to pursue him. The Irish Republican Army is suspected of launching the attack.

"A senior (police) officer sought the government's assistance in December 1972, through their engagement with senior figures of the Catholic Church, to 'render harmless a dangerous priest,"' the report said.

Despite the suspicions of authorities, the church and U.K. officials struck a deal that allowed Chesney to move from Northern Ireland to a parish in Ireland where British prosecutors lacked the jurisdiction to investigate him.

The deal was struck following a meeting between Cardinal William Conway, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland at the time, and Britain's representative in Northern Ireland, William Whitelaw, documents cited by the report said.

Chesney, who died in 1980 after suffering from cancer, had denied involvement in the attack, Conway told Whitelaw, according to the report.

No one has ever been charged for the attack, which hit the village without the customary warnings that paramilitaries used to limit civilian casualties.

Ombudsman Al Hutchinson's report, which began after new evidence came to light in 2002, comes on the heels of a separate inquiry into the deaths of 13 civilians in Londonderry in the Bloody Sunday massacre. The Claudy bombing took place only six months after Bloody Sunday at the height of the violence in Northern Ireland.

The report is certain to raise more questions about what role -- if any -- the church may have played during the more than 30 years of violence that claimed 3,600 lives.

The decision of the church to deal with the problem by transferring the priest suspected of wrongdoing to another parish also offered disturbing echoes of the church's handling of the problem of pedophile priests, many of whom were moved rather than be handed over to authorities for investigation.

Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said Tuesday that the government was "profoundly sorry."

Sorry they were caught with their pants down more like.....

At what point do we as a society tally up all the negatives and wrong-doings a particular religion has caused over the years and either disband that religious organization or at the very least, force the government to no longer legally recognize such a religious organization.

Now I understand that you can never force people to stop worshiping a certain religious belief, but officially by the state, they can be no longer recognized, drop state funding or protection from those religious organizations and treat them no differently then Scientology or some extremist cult.

This is a prime example of what happens when you let a religious group dig their dirty claws deep into the government..... they can either get away with bloody murder or they can get away with sexual assault of children..... and as proven above, the state will help them cover it up.

Speaking as a former Roman Catholic, I believe the RC Church should be removed from any state protection/funding and any similar religious organizations that either promote hate/violence or simply don't promote these things, but still practice these things behind closed doors (and proven) should also be removed from any state protection/funding.

All religions should be actually, but considering the amount of people in our countries that are still religious, I doubt that will happen anytime soon..... but everybody should be able to agree that the extremist organizations should be.

 

[karrie]

I believe that when a religion is proven to support those actions more than it opposes them, you'd have every right to want to see them removed from their status. But, within the church you know darn well the membership and even the majority of the clergy, don't support this sort of action.

 

[CDNBear]

Ban the Church!

 

[Praxius]

I believe that when a religion is proven to support those actions more than it opposes them, you'd have every right to want to see them removed from their status. But, within the church you know darn well the membership and even the majority of the clergy, don't support this sort of action.

Agreed, though I wasn't suggesting to ban Christianity all together, just the particular sect of that general religion that has continually been responsible for a long list of offences..... and I know there are certain christian faiths that don't care or approve of another, same as other religious sects.

Though it shouldn't be left to the public to determine which religion/sect should be no longer supported, but the state based upon law.

Maybe if a few of today's religions were dropped from recognized status/support, then perhaps they might think twice about dealing with their internal problems and fixing them so that eventually they will be recognized again someday.

 

[karrie]

What I'd like to see Prax is an ability to seize a church (not a religion, but an individual building and its associated assets), if that particular group of clergy participates in hiding someone from investigation. So if, say, St. Joseph's parish in Grande Prairie, Alberta, has a molestation scandal, and the bishop picks that priest up and sends him to Rome, they should be doing so at peril to their hold on their multi-million dollar building and the lands they rent out, as well as the ability of their parish to attend mass, thus risking the membership of those tithes which paid for said multi-million dollar building, while at the same time making it NECESSARY for the membership to be aware and not stick their heads in the sand, over the actions of the diocese.

 

[CDNBear]

I keep getting drawn back to Lennon's song, Imagine.

 

[Sparrow]

What I'd like to see Prax is an ability to seize a church (not a religion, but an individual building and its associated assets), if that particular group of clergy participates in hiding someone from investigation. So if, say, St. Joseph's parish in Grande Prairie, Alberta, has a molestation scandal, and the bishop picks that priest up and sends him to Rome, they should be doing so at peril to their hold on their multi-million dollar building and the lands they rent out, as well as the ability of their parish to attend mass, thus risking the membership of those tithes which paid for said multi-million dollar building, while at the same time making it NECESSARY for the membership to be aware and not stick their heads in the sand, over the actions of the diocese.

I agree with you completely. I am RC but I'm fed up with the church and all the cover-ups they have gotten away with. If they are not penalized you can be sure they will continue.

 

[gerryh]

What I'd like to see Prax is an ability to seize a church (not a religion, but an individual building and its associated assets), if that particular group of clergy participates in hiding someone from investigation. So if, say, St. Joseph's parish in Grande Prairie, Alberta, has a molestation scandal, and the bishop picks that priest up and sends him to Rome, they should be doing so at peril to their hold on their multi-million dollar building and the lands they rent out, as well as the ability of their parish to attend mass, thus risking the membership of those tithes which paid for said multi-million dollar building, while at the same time making it NECESSARY for the membership to be aware and not stick their heads in the sand, over the actions of the diocese.

I agree with you completely. I am RC but I'm fed up with the church and all the cover-ups they have gotten away with. If they are not penalized you can be sure they will continue.

agreed

 

[Bar Sinister]

Let's see - a priest who commits a heinous crime is transferred to another jurisdiction. Does that sound familiar?

 

[karrie]

Thank you Sparrow and gerry... there aren't a lot of other RC members on here, so it's good to see the other two don't think I'm out to lunch on the accountability I'd like to see my church held to.

 

[CDNBear]

agreed

So long as the Pope is left out of it right?

 

[gerryh]

I notice, once again, a one sided sh*tfest. Calls for the banning of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, yet next to no mention, let alone condemnation, of the British Government for their hand in this affair.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I notice, once again, a one sided sh*tfest. Calls for the banning of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, yet next to no mention, let alone condemnation, of the British Government for their hand in this affair.

I had no idea the British government hired priests to carry out bombings. Please enlighten me.

 

[karrie]

The discussion at hand isn't the bombing, it's the cover-up.