Catholic Church, UK govt in bomb cover-up: report . PROTEST THE POPE

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Sunday August 29, 2010 02:02

by Paul King

Just one more of the thousand reasons to fully support the PROTEST THE POPE

Reuters) - The UK government, the police and the Catholic Church colluded to protect a priest suspected of involvement in a 1972 bombing in Northern Ireland that killed 9 people, a report said on Tuesday.

Just one more of the thousand reasons to fully support the PROTEST THE POPE demonstrations.

Catholic Church, UK govt in bomb cover-up: report

(Reuters) - The UK government, the police and the Catholic Church colluded to protect a priest suspected of involvement in a 1972 bombing in Northern Ireland that killed 9 people, a report said on Tuesday.

The Police Ombudsman's eight-year probe revealed a cardinal was involved in moving Father James Chesney out of British-ruled Northern Ireland, highlighting anew the way the Church hierarchy shielded priests from allegations of criminal activity.

The inquiry showed former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw had a private meeting with Cardinal William Conway, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, in which they discussed the possibility of transferring Chesney.

"I accept that 1972 was one of the worst years of the 'Troubles' and that the arrest of a priest might well have aggravated the security situation," Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson said. But "the decision failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombing."

Chesney, a priest in a neighboring parish, always denied any involvement, though the police had intelligence that he was the South Derry leader of republican guerrilla group, the IRA, and a sniffer dog found traces of explosive in his car when he was stopped at a checkpoint in September 1972. He died in 1980.

The current head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, who has been under pressure to resign over his role in concealing sex abuse cases, denied the Church took part in a cover-up.

"He (Cardinal Conway) was faced with an impossible situation but his primary consideration would be the prevention of any further acts of violence," said Cardinal Sean Brady.

One of the relatives of those killed told reporters that she had been told the priest had continued his IRA activities after being transferred to Donegal in the Irish Republic in 1973.

"This is an absolute disgrace. It is an absolute outrage," said Tracey Deans, whose grandfather was killed. "I would like to know how many more people suffered because of him."

"A VERY BAD MAN"

The police may have feared that arresting a priest over the Claudy attack could have triggered a fierce backlash among Northern Ireland's minority Catholic population.

A senior police officer wrote in November 1972 that, rather than arrest Chesney, "our masters may find it possible to bring the subject into any conversations they may be having with the Cardinal or Bishops at some future date..."

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Catholic Church, UK govt in bomb cover-up: report . PROTEST THE POPE