Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 3 - June 15,1972
‘Bloody Sunday’ Report Is
Challenged By New Study
BY LINDA HASERT
(NC News Service)
WASHINGTON (NC) - A study
sponsored by a United Nations affiliate
has charged that British troops fired
“recklessly or deliberately” when they
killed 13 fleeing Catholics on “Bloody
Sunday” in Londonderry.
The report, by Prof. Samuel Dash of
the Georgetown University law school,
directly challenges many conclusions in
the official inquiry by Lord Widgery, lord
chief justice of England.
Though identical information was used
for both reports, the Widgery report
ignores or glosses ove; some very basic
conclusions, according to Dash.
“I don’t want to attribute any motives
to Lord Widgery,” Dash told a press
conference here.
Dash said, however, that the Widgery
report completely absolves the British
army and leaders of the Northern Ireland
government of responsibility for
“exposing thousands of peaceable citizens
to a high risk of death or serious bodily
injury.”
The First Batallion Parachute
Regiment, to which all killings were
traced, had a “notorious reputation in
Northern Ireland for brutality to
civilians” and are “trained to be quick on
tne trigger” and “to kill in aggressive
warfare,” Dash continued.
Dash, director of the Institute of
Criminal Law and Procedure at
Georgetown, and former chairman of the
American Bar Association’s section on
criminal law, said that, though Widgery
acknowledges that all of the dead were
unarmed at the time of the killings, he
accepts the doubtful testimony of
paratroopers who claimed they shot only
when fired upon.
Dash’s report, sponsored by the
International League for the Rights of
Man, an affiliate of the United Nations,
differed from the Widgery inquiry in
many of its conclusions. Major
differences were:
-While Widgery exonerated the British
army for the killings, calling them within
the army’s power of self-defense, Dash
accuses the troops of firing “either
recklessly or deliberately” and “without
justification.”
-Dash criticizes the commanders of the
British army for ignoring the urgent
warning of Londonderry’s chief
superintendent of police, a man whom
Dash said was experienced in separating
Londonderry rioters from peaceful
demonstrators. The police chief assured
the army that the march would be
peaceful and asked the army not to
interfere, Dash said. Ignoring the
recommendation, the British Army
“brought in” reinforcements trained in
warfare, Dash said.
-Dash charges that the rationale used
in bringing in reinforcements was not
sound because the senior army officers’
claim that the march would be used as a
cover for terrorists, armed with guns and
bombs, could not be supported by
Widgery’s evidence.
-Even if civilian gunmen in the Bogside
area occasionally shot at the
paratroopers, as Widgery’s report claims,
Dash finds no reason for the troops to
return sniper fire with “aimed or reckless
shots at unarmed civilians.”
-Dash finds little evidence to suppo:*t
the need for such a large-scale arrest
operation when the only violence to
troops occured in hooligan activities on
the perimeter of the Bogside area. It was
suggested that this group could have been
photographed for later arrest.
The incident, resulting in 13 deaths
and 13 injuries, began as a civil rights
demonstration by Catholics Jan. 30 to
protest the imprisonment without trial of
suspected terrorists under the Special
Powers Act. Most of the interned were
Catholics.
Organizers of the march decided to
ignore the government’s ban on
demonstrations and to confine their
activities to a nonviolent march within
the Catholic working-class district of
Bogside in Londonderry.
EARLIER PROTEST OF “BLOODY SUNDAY”: This was the
scene in London on 2/5) as demonstrators carried 13 symbolic
coffins in a march commemorating the deaths of 13 civilians in
Londonderry, Northern Ireland (1/30) by British troops
during a demonstration. A new study of the “Bloody Sunday”
S TA TEMENT ISS UED
incident contradicts the earlier report by Lord Widgery, Lord
chief justice of England which absolved the British troops. The
new study, sponsored by a United Nations affiliate, claims that
the British troops “recklessly or deliberately” fired on the
demonstrators. (NC Photo)
IN MASSACHUSETTS
Priest Runs For
Seat In Congress
USCC Reacts To Fertility Study
LOWELL, Mass. (NC) - Father
Armand Moriessette of Saint John the
Baptist Church here has launched a
campaign to become the second
priest-Congressman in the United States.
Father Moriessette, a candidate for the
Republican nomination in Massachusetts’
5th District, announced his political goal
at a luncheon. He was introduced by his
long-time friend, Ambassador Henry
Cabot Lodge, presidential envoy to the
Vatican.
“I am not running as a priest. If asked
if priests should run for political office I
would say ‘no’, but there are exceptions,”
Father Moriessette commented. In his
own case, the priest feels he is best
qualified to fill the vacant seat because of
his many years as public relations official
for the Oblate order.
“I’ve been able to keep in touch with
the people and I’ve gotten a lot of
support,” he explained.
In contrast to Father Robert Drinan,
the nation’s first priest-Congressman, also
from Massachusetts, Father Moriessette
calls himself “a liberal in religion, but a
conservative in politics.”
“Father Drinan is in a classier order -
the Jesuits, but the Oblates work with the
people,” continued the priest. In response
to the people’s problems Moriessette has
suggested a federal tax credit program
giving homeowners reduced taxes for
home improvements. He also favors
increased social security benefits for the
elderly.
Father Moriessette, who has been
active in the ecumenical movement, feels
the major issue in his one-third Irish,
one-third Democratic district is
unemployment.
“I’m just tired of hearing the district
called ‘depressed’,” explained the priest,
a four generation resident of Lowell, The
Republican priest feels the problem could
be alleviated by promoting private
business through tax breaks and increased
advertising of the area’s bi-centennial
celebration.
Father Moriessette, a life-long
Republican and strong supporter of free
enterprise, sees no conflict in his switch
from priest to politician.
After Bogside was sealed off by British
troops, rocks and bottles were thrown at
soldiers manning the barriers. The
shooting broke out when British
paratroopers entered the main street of
the sealed area in armored cars and on
foot.
Dash’s original mission had been to
encourage families of the dead and
wounded to testify during the Widgery
investigation of Bloody Sunday, but the
final conclusions of the inquiry led him
to challenge the report.
Dash said that he hopes his work will
lead to a new inquiry into the events of
Bloody Sunday, but added that “the next
step should be in Great Britain”
The British ministry of defense, also
presented with a copy of the Dash report,
rejected the findings as being neither
independent nor impartial.
The ministry’s statement said that
Prof. Dash did not observe the demeanor
of the witnesses under cross-examination,
see the photographic evidence in the
inquiry, or hear counsel’s speeches.
“It is perfectly clear that he (Dash) has
listened to only one side of the case,” the
ministry charged.
BY LOUIS A. PANARALE
WASHINGTON (NC) - Catholic
couples are fast reaching a par with
non-Catholics in reducing the number of
children they plan to have, according to a
report on the 1970 National Fertility
Study.
The report brought an immediate
response from the United States Catholic
Conference, which said: “It appears as if
somebody is trying to convey the
message, ‘Don’t pay any attention to
what the Church says’.”
The National Fertility Study was
conducted with federal funds in 1965 and
1970 by two Princeton University
demographers, Norman B. Ryder and
Charles F. Westoff.
The demographers’ report of the 1970
study was submitted to the Presidential
Commission on Population Growth and
the American Future. The report was the
demographers’ first formal analysis of the
1970 study.
“American couples,” the report
concluded, “have changed their
reproductive behavior radically over the
course of the past five years, adjusting
their fertility goals downward and
increasing substantially their ability to
stop child-bearing at the wanted level.”
The study used a national sampling of
married women under 45 years old to
measure the number of children wanted
and the number they had borne but did
not want.
The demographers cited statistics that
indicated a rapid “convergence of wanted
fertility for Catholics and non-Catholics.”
There was a decline in the birth
expectations of all groups from 1965 to
1970, the demographers said, with a
faster decline among Catholic parents.
The findings were paralleled by those
for unwanted births that had already
occurred. From 1965 to 1970, the rate of
unwanted births among non-Catholics fell
by about a third. Among Catholics the
rate fell almost by half, the report said.
The USCC said that at present it can
“neither confirm nor dispute the
accuracy of the statistics or the inferences
drawn from them.”
Father James Rausch, USCC associate
general secretary who prepared the
conference’s statement, said the
conference hopes to see both the
statistics and the inferences “subjected to
normal scientific scrutiny.”
He said the emphasis that news
accounts on the report have given to
child-bearing among Catholics raises some
disturbing questions, as does the release
of the study “apparently through a leak
to news media.” He referred to “the
ADDRESSES SURGEOISS
unofficial publicity” of news accounts.
Father Rausch said that the Church
“has on several recent occasions stated its
opposition to improper government
intervention in the population field.”
In view of this, he said, the USCC has
found it necessary to reaffirm the
authentic teaching of the Church “lest
the position of the Conference be
distorted or misunderstood.”
Father Rausch listed three arguments
which he said form the basis of the
Conference’s position on the issues
involved:
“First, the Church and the Conference
are opposed to any effort, overt or
implicit, on the part of government to
infringe on the right of individual
couples’ responsibly in accordance with
laws to decide for themselves how many
children they will have. Pressuring people
into having fewer children is not the
business of government.
“Second, the Church and the
Conference are particularly opposed to
government support or sponsorship of
population control programs which
involve direct attacks on human life
through abortion. Killing unborn children
is not the business of a government
either, especially one established to
protect the inalienable rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Third, while asserting their right to
state their position, the Church and the
Conference at the same time repudiate
any suggestion that defense of the rights
of couples and opposition to abortion are
“Catholic” issues. On the contrary, what
is at stake here are matters of public
policy which are legitimately the concern
of all Americans. It is irresponsible and
untrue to imply that only Catholics hold
these views.”
PIETA DAMAGE - This group of pictures from the Vatican shows close-up detail of the damage inflicted on Michelangelo’s Pieta
last month by an assailant with a hammer. The photos are exceptionally clear and close. (NC PHOTOS)
Pope Urges Doctors To Join
NOW CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS
Vatican Experts Study
Suggestions On Pieta
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Experts at the Vatican Museums are receiving and
carefully considering the many suggestions being volunteered on how to restore the
damaged Pieta of Michelangelo.
Vatican Radio reported that the repairing of the statue - smashed by a
hammer-wielding assailant in St. Peter’s Basilica in May - is still in the study stage. The
restoration laboratories of the Vatican Museums are now conducting a number of
experiments connected with the planned restoration of the marble statue.
But Vatican Radio said that none of the experiments now under study will be
actually applied to the masterpiece until Vatican experts are absolutely sure of the
materials to be used and the means and procedures to be followed.
The experts, according to Vatican Radio, “are patiently studying and experimenting
with all existing and available materials for restoring the missing pieces.”
The radio also reported that “from every part of the world the Vatican Museum’s
administrative office is receiving a continuous stream of letters of best wishes and
concrete suggestions regarding materials and means which might be of help, as well as
offers of service.
“Notwithstanding the great experience acquired in the past 50 years by the
restoration laboratories of the Vatican Museums, every suggestion is being considered
and tried out with the aim of providing the most complete documentation and greatest
certainity for the restoration.”
In Right To Life Campaign
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope Paul VI appealed to the “moral sensitivity” of the
world’s doctors to join the Church in its campaign for the right to life.
The Pope also asked “men of medicine” to act on his behalf in teaching that social
diseases, drugs and torture, as well as contraception, abortion and euthanasia, offend
the “dignity and integrity of human life.”
The Pope’s appeal came in a sermon he gave at a Mass in the Sistine Chapel June 1
for about 1,000 delegates of the 18th world congress of the International College of
Surgeons.
“Could we not ask you today, doctors and surgeons,” the Pope said, “to act on our
behalf in the midst of the confusion of current opinions (in the medical-moral field),
in the challenge of translating into practical teaching the right ethical and Christian
norms?”
The doctors were also asked to act in the Pope’s behalf “in the urgency of raising a
defense against the spread of indifferent and permissive hedonism that threatens the
dignity and integrity of human life by violating the moral law.”
Referring to the moral problems that today affect the relations between men of
medicine and men of the Church, the Pope said:
“More often we find ourselves consulted . . .on contraception, abortion, responsible
parenthood, social diseases, torture, drugs and euthanasia.
“Certainly we are not able to discuss these problems in their specific scientific
terms. But by virtue of our mission as guardian and interpreter of the law of God, we
are able to discuss them, from beginning to end, regarding the entire range of
defending life.”
The Pope included in the Church’s prerogative the defense of life, “each individual
life, both in its bodily aspect and in its moral and spiritual aspects.”
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