63% of the victims of verbal abuse and insults due to religious faith are Catholics, while 29% are Protestants. This emerges from some statistics published by the Crown Office concerning offences linked to verbal violence against religious minorities. “Dreadful figures”, commented Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell, who in a communiqué of the Scottish Catholic Church of 21 November, declared that they reflect “deeply entrenched hostility towards the religious minorities”. The Report points out that this new type of offence is registering a growth. From the end of June 2003 to the beginning of September 2004 it is calculated that some 450 accusations of this type were made, whereas in the same period only in one case did a person accused of such an offence, in this case offending a Muslim, come to trial. In contrast to what might be thought, the statistics reveal that those who commit this type of offence are not youths from the ages of 13 to 18 but adults in the 21-40 age group. The most frequent cases of verbal abuse are registered on the occasion of marches, demonstrations (15%) and football matches (14%). “They are disturbing data declared Msgr. Devine But what is most shocking is that two-thirds of the offences are aimed at members of the Catholic community that forms only 17% of the population. This saddens us very much”. Another aspect that should be underlined, according to the bishop of Motherwell, is that “the incidents that take place during marches and processions contribute in a significant way to the spread of the problem” which could be, in part, resolved, “by limiting the processions to one month in the year, asking authorization to hold them from the authorities at least thirty days in advance, and not just one week, as happens today”. Of the same view is also Peter Kearney, head of the press office of the Scottish episcopate. He said that “the constant [verbal] attacks on Catholic schools, also by authoritative commentators, have created a climate in which anti-Catholicism is considered an acceptable attitude”.
