A priest who was spat on and threatened as he greeted parishioners has slammed Glasgow City Council for allowing a loyalist march to pass his church.
The Bridegton Apprentice Boys of Derry have been granted permission for a procession on Sunday, November 10, that will take place in the street outside St Mary’s and St Alphonsus churches in the Calton area.
Marches have been re-routed away from this area after Canon Tom White was spat on, threatened with a baton, and subjected to sectarian abuse after a mass on Saturday July 7, 2018.
Bradley Wallace was later jailed for ten months after his DNA was found to match the saliva on the vestments worn by the priest that day.
A number of applications for marches in the area were denied by the council afterwards but one was granted in May, 2019, and following further disorder Police Scotland advised processions should be banned from passing St Mary’s and St Alphonsus.
However, Glasgow City Council has decided to allow a procession this weekend despite objections from the Parish Council for both churches.
In a letter to the Parish Council, seen by the Daily Record, the council advised that their “powers to impose restrictions in relation to any procession are limited by legislation.”
They continued by saying that they do not believe the march will have an affect on “public safety, public order, damage to property, or damage to the life of the community.”
On Sunday, the march will pass St Alphonsus on London Road at 9:45am and St Mary’s at Abercromby Street at 12:15pm, while hundreds of parishioners attend mass.
Speaking to the Record, Canon Tom said he fears for the local community.
He said: “There has been no community engagement whatsoever as far as I am aware. I’d love to know how they evidenced this decision.
“It certainly can’t have been by looking at the arrest figures for these events. Nor, can it have been by looking at the historical divisions caused by them either.
“The council are driving Glasgow into the ground. You just have to look at the dirty streets in the city-centre, and this is another stink they have created by allowing this march to pass churches in the Calton again.
“Glasgow gets this reputation for bigotry but it isn’t fair. People come from all across Scotland to attend these marches so the council are letting people down by hosting them.”
Canon Tom, who was appointed parish priest of Holy Cross in Croy in September after 25 years serving in the Calton area, has tried hard not to be defined by the incident in 2018.
However, he his views on the authorities in Glasgow changed that day.
He continued: “I didn’t really give it much thought at the time and was more concerned with the older parishioners getting home safely, but then the police came to visit me that night.
“They wouldn’t offer any assurances about marches passing by the churches in future.
“Personally it did not affect my confidence but it has rattled my faith in the council and police.
“Up until September I spent all of my priesthood in Glasgow and I am almost ashamed to say that I am glad to be away.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The legislation that governs public processions and how councils respond to them is set nationally.
“There is a presumption in law that processions can take place, unless there is a reason to intervene – and these reasons are quite narrowly defined in the statutory framework.
“Ultimately, a local authority requires credible evidence in order to take such a step – usually by way of intelligence from the police about a risk of disorder or a threat to public safety.
“We can only ever look at events on a case by case basis and, in this case, we have received no reports or intelligence that would justify imposing conditions on the procession under the legislation.”
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