A worrying increase of attacks against Scottish Catholics has prompted Cardinal Keith O’Brien to write to the senior Scottish law officer, the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, asking him for measures to curb the abuses. According to statistics recently published by the Scottish government, a Catholic is six times more likely to suffer violence than a Protestant. The statistics only recently published prove that violence of religious origin has tripled, but the Scottish government does not divulge the details about the religious denominations against which the abuse has been directed. The Cardinal protested against this lack of information, explaining that he is ready to use the law on freedom of information to force the Scottish government to list the victims of attacks according to their religious denomination. “We are surprised that the Scottish government and the Lord Advocate’s office cannot release statistics divided by denomination”, declared the cardinal’s spokesman, Peter Kearney. “If the Scottish government is serious in its intention to combat religious hatred, it’s important to know against whom this hatred is directed”. A summit to discuss sectarianism in Scotland has been called by the Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, but according to the cardinal it is important to have precise statistics if that meeting is to have any success. Sectarian attacks in Scotland, in O’Brien’s view, are due more to the political and social climate that to alcohol or vandalism. The causes of so much violence need to be investigated and the Catholic community ought to be consulted.
