A Catholic church in Northern Ireland was vandalized with sectarian graffiti, upsetting parishioners and local leaders. Paramilitary slogans from an anti-Catholic group marked a door and some of the walls of St Mary’s July 31. A large crucifix outside of the church was also painted on. The graffiti read UDA and UFF. The Ulster Defence Association is an Ulster loyalist vigilante group founded in 1971 whose paramilitary front organization is the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
As reported by CNA, Msgr. Bryan McCanny, pastor of St. Mary’s in Limavady, fewer than 20 miles east of Derry noted that “We never had a problem like this before. There was something very minor about five or six years ago but this is completely new to us. Parishioners are very upset about it. It’s depressing that things like this should happen when we are enjoying peace. The two police officers who arrived this morning helped to clean the paint off the door.”
The UDA is considered a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, and between the late 1960s and 2007 it carried out more than 250 killings, with most of the victims Catholic civilians.
Source: www.catholicnewsagency.com
