Sir, - Since the murder of the leading terrorist Billy Wright, there have been two attempts at mass murder by gunmen sympathetic to his cause. These atrocities resulted in the deaths of Seamus Dillon and Eddie Trainor and numerous other casualties. Further killings have been threatened.
Leading loyalist politicians, displaying characteristic blindness towards the darkness in their own midst, have once again been peddling the lie that such loyalist violence is reactive. After Mr Wright's death, unionist leaders appealed to loyalist gunmen "not to be provoked" and were quoted in the press as praising Protestant paramilitaries for showing restraint on the day of Mr Wright's funeral. Some of these leading figures seem to be utterly unmoved by the sufferings of the Catholic community. They always qualify their socalled condemnations by implying that the actions of sectarian serial killers in their own community are understandable, because they are being provoked. Such twisted logic is an astonishing example of self-deception. It can only be described as crass hypocrisy and such spokespersons would, indeed, be better remaining silent when Catholics are hurt and killed, because their words only add insult to injury.
Who or what incited the murderers of Gerry Devlin in December, to say nothing of the other Catholics slain since the inception of the loyalist "ceasefire"? The myth that loyalist murders are a reaction to the violence of republicans amazingly persists and is given credence by the words, attitudes and all too frequently the silence of unionist leaders in the face of the vicious slaughter of a multitude of Catholics since 1968.
The loyalist murder gangs have butchered, bombed, massacred and terrorised hundreds and hundreds of people, motivated solely by anti-Catholic hatred - a hatred that has, frequently, been fuelled by the toxic bellowing of sectarian bigots, who share in the guilt of those who pulled triggers or wielded knives. Unionist leaders must awaken to the reality of the beast in their own midst - a loathing of Catholics, often driven and inspired by quasi-religious ideology.
At the graveside of Billy Wright there was a display of that perverted religiosity which provides a godly excuse for belligerence and animosity. This is what one orator said: "No matter what the gutter press said Wright had done - and maybe he had done all of it - Wright had been saved. Not the INLA or death itself could take Billy Wright, who was washed cleaner than clean and sitting at the seat of God in the portals of Heaven". This is a breathtaking insult to the God of Justice who hears the cry of innocent blood and is close to the broken-hearted widows and orphans. As Catholics, we leave the eternal salvation of Billy Wright where it rightfully belongs - in the hands of the Almighty God. We ask him to have mercy on the soul of even such a man as this, who is widely believed to have been responsible for untold sorrow, anguish and fear throughout the community.
There is, however, a profound darkness in certain brands of loyalist extremism and fundamentalism, which attempts to put righteous gloss over a seething hatred that is contrary to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and ignores His most basic commands. In some religious circles in this community, Catholics are "the unsaved". They are all lost. In the mind-set of this extreme form of Calvinism, it is as if God created a countless multitude of humanity to be hell fodder. It is easy to see, then, how fanatics can justify the murder of innocent Catholics and carry them out under a banner which declares: "for God and Ulster". It is not hard to understand how the respectable unionist establishment, when it held unchallenged sway in this land, was able to systematically discriminate, persecute and repress the Catholic community.
Religious hatred and sectarian bigotry remain among the greatest obstacles to lasting peace and genuine reconciliation in this community.
This is the palpable darkness into which we all must face. It is certainly intimidating because it is so virulently evil, but it must be confronted by all the Christian churches on this island. It is absolutely vital that certain politicians cease their cynical posturing and attend urgently to the situation of appalling distress which, once again, is in danger of overwhelming the whole community. - Yours, etc.,
Holy Trinity Presbytery, Norglen Gardens, Belfast 11.