PRIEST’S TEARS AFTER ORANGE MARCH ATTACK
Cops probe hate crime after minister was spat at, abused and threatened outside his church
A PRIEST broke down yesterday as he told how he was spat on, verbally abused and threatened with a baton as an Orange Walk passed his church.
Canon Thomas White came under attack as worshippers left mass at St Alphonsus Church in Glasgow.
POLICE were investigating a hate crime last night after a priest came under attack as an Orange Walk passed his church.
Canon Thomas White was spat at, subjected to vile verbal abuse and threatened with a baton.
The priest wept as he told the Record how one yob spat in his eye, others spat on the back of his head and at parishioners and thugs hurled sectarian insults, including “Fenian scum”.
A man brandishing a baton tried to attack Thomas before being fended off by members of his congregation.
The incident happened outside St Alphonsus Church at the Barras in Glasgow at about 4.20pm on Saturday.
Police put a cordon around the church but they had to leave to deal with a separate incident nearby.
Thomas said: “Mass had finished and as I went out on to the street to say goodbye to parishioners, as is my custom, an Orange parade appeared.
“I would have had between 200 and 300 people at that Mass and people were spilling out on to the street, so it was not ideal circumstances.
“At that point, there were chants of sectarian lyrics from the Billy Boys, saying, ‘We’re up to our knees in Fenian blood’.
“Some police officers had arrived outside the church and I was fairly confident it would be managed. But then there was a call-out as one of their officers was involved in an incident elsewhere.
“The police abandoned the cordon between myself, the parishioners and the parade.
“I turned my back to help parishioners out of the church and as I was helping an elderly parishioner, I felt that I had been spat on the back of my head.
“The abuse was horrendous. It was ‘Fenian scum, Fenian b ***** d, beast, paedophile’.
“Someone spat on my face and it went into my eye. There were people spitting at the building and at parishioners.
“One of them came with one of those batons that they carry and he was trying to strike me with it.
“It was too busy to get a swing but he was trying to poke me with it. Some of the parishioners stopped that happening.
“Some of the children who were with the parade were laughing and smiling and thinking that was OK.”
The Orange Order last night condemned the “bigoted” attack but claimed no members of the parade were involved in the incident or in any other trouble on Saturday.
An estimated 4500 people took part in the walk through Glasgow city centre.
Police said four arrests were made.
Thomas said his parishioners were “distressed and upset”.
He added: “My congregation on the whole are quite elderly and vulnerable people.
“The officers that were there were fully committed but they were just not able to handle this situation.
“The Orange Order disavow themselves of anything like this but it’s who they are facilitating.”
Anti-bigotry campaigners called on Orange Walk organisers to ban anyone found responsible for the attack from taking part in parades for life.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow yesterday issued an online statement demanding answers from police and Glasgow City Council over the handling of the march. A Facebook
post said: “What kind of society is it that allows ministers of religion and church-goers to be intimidated and attacked by a group which has a long history of fomenting fear and anxiety on city streets?
“Why is the Orange Order still allowed to schedule its intimidating parades on streets containing Catholic churches at times when people are trying to get in and out for Mass?”
Rt Rev Susan Brown, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, condemned the attack. She tweeted: “Where is the Christianity in such behaviour?
“Christianity calls us to love our neighbour, to respect, never to abuse. Priest and people of St Alphonsus, we send you love and prayers.”
Dave Scott, campaign director of anti-bigotry group Nil by Mouth, said: “As a society, we should have zero tolerance for this type of incident.
“I hope the police will be in a position to make arrests imminently and the individuals
One was trying to strike me with a baton. Some parishioners stopped it happening CANON WHITE ON ORANGE WALK ATTACK
concerned have the book thrown at them.
“I hope the Orange Order will condemn this attack entirely and if those involved are found to have any links to the order or any of the bands involved in the parades, I urge them to ban these individuals for life from membership.”
A police spokeswoman said last night they were treating the incident as a hate crime.
Earlier, they suggested the assault was “minor in nature”.
The spokeswoman added: “We can confirm we are investigating reports of an assault on a man outside a church in the Barras in Glasgow on Saturday.
“There was no injury as a result of the incident.
“It is believed the Orange Walk had been passing by at the time but it is still to be established if there is any connection in regards to members of the parade. “Inquires are ongoing.” A statement on the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland website said: “We have been made aware of an incident outside of St Alphonsus Church in Glasgow while an Orange Parade was passing by.
“We understand that abusive comments were directed at a local priest from a group of young men who were not part of the parade.
“We can confirm that no members of the parade were involved in this or any of the reported incidents.”
They added: “The Orange Order is founded on the principle of religious liberty and respect for people of all faiths.
“We totally condemn the bigoted actions of those involved and hope that they are dealt with to the full extent of the law.
“We would welcome the opportunity to work with Police Scotland to identify those responsible.”
Thomas said he has been the target of sectarian abuse in the past and has seen his car sprayed with the words “provo go home”, accusing him of being a member of the IRA.
The doors of his church have also been urinated and defecated on.
Thomas now plans to write a letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling for tougher action to be taken against sectarian thugs.