Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow has said that the Scottish Government is refusing to face up to the brutal nature of anti-Catholicism in Scotland, as new Crown Office statistics show an increase in attacks on Catholics.

A senior Church official has backed the archbishop’s comments, suggesting the work of anti-sectarianism charities is ‘making the situation worse.’

The data contained in the latest report—Religiously aggravated offending in Scotland 2011-2012—shows an increase of 26 per cent in religious hate crimes, with 509 attacks on Catholics making up 58 per cent of all such offences. Anti-Catholic attacks are more prevalent than attacks on all other religious groups combined.

Saddening statistics

Archbishop Tartaglia, newly elected president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said the statistics proved that Catholics cannot feel completely safe in Scotland.

“I am saddened by the latest figures on religiously aggravated offending,” he said. “While most Catholics are safe most of the time, these figures show a side of Scotland which is truly unfortunate.”

The archbishop (above) also said the Scottish Government had to face up to the reality that Scotland was, and still is, an anti-Catholic country.

“Sadly, it seems incontrovertible now that our problem is not so much sectarianism but anti-Catholicism,” he said. “This is regrettable because popular culture is inventing all kinds of new reasons to marginalise and hate Catholics. In the face of this, the Catholic community of Scotland remains steadfast in faith, joyful in hope and fully committed to being part of Scottish society.”

Failing Catholics

Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, said the rise in religiously aggravated crimes shows that the work of anti-sectarianism charities, such as Nil by Mouth, is not helping.

“We have more than a decade’s worth of evidence that the blanket approach of these organisations is not helping,” he said. “The one trend we can see is that Catholics come off worse every time these figures are reported.”

Mr Kearney said the approach of the Scottish Government funded organisation to sectarianism would not be tolerated in other areas.

“Look at domestic violence, now there are a number of different types of domestic violence, male on female, female on male, male on male and female on female,” he said. “Yet every campaign on that issue is based around male on female violence because that is the nature of the overwhelming number of domestic violence cases.”

Mr Kearney also said that he believed the figures last week were just the ‘tip of an intolerant iceberg.’

“I think the vast majority of clergy and laity in this country have developed very thick skins,” he said. “The vast majority of crimes against Catholics are never reported.”

Problem worsening

Dave Scott of the charity Nil by Mouth admitted the problem appears to be getting worse.

“These figures are striking both for the nearly 30 per cent rise in the number of offences and the fact that we have seen arrests in all 32 of Scotland’s local authority areas,” he said. “This problem goes far beyond football and Facebook and it is worrying that nearly two thirds of those arrested were under the age of 30.”

Roseanna Cunningham, Community Safety Minister said: “It is completely unacceptable for people to think that offensive religious or sectarian language, or verbal or physical attacks based purely on religious prejudice, have any place in 21st century Scotland.”

However she claimed that ‘while it is concerning that the number of cases has risen, I hope that the increase does indicate people feel more confident about reporting the perpetrators.’

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PIC: PAUL McSHERRY