Kirk hints members should cut Orange ties

KIRK leaders yesterday urged members to reconsider links they may have with the Orange Order in a strongly worded report commissioned to tackle sectarianism.

The Church of Scotland is calling on its members to "reflect and to take heart" from the perception that the Order is an anti-Catholic organisation.

The report, prepared by the Church and nation committee over the past 12 months, will go before the Kirk’s General Assembly next month and calls sectarianism a "demon in our society".

It is also the first time an internal report has criticised the Kirk’s past views on Roman Catholicism as both racist and sectarian.

Its conclusions add that the Orange Order remains "widely perceived to be a sectarian organisation", before urging that "those within the Church of Scotland who associate themselves with the Order should reflect upon this and take heart".

The tone of the report, and quiet implication that church-goers should quit the Order, may create tension within Scotland’s 800 Orange Lodges.

Ian Wilson, the Grand Master of the Orange Order of Scotland, said: "I do think that some members of the Order will be quite upset by this report.

"I myself am quite upset, I’ve been a member of the Church of Scotland for 36 years and I am an elder of the Kirk.

"However, having said that, I don’t think that people will be stamping out of their kirk. This business of reflecting on it and taking heart, is very soft Church language.

"There is a degree of bigotry within our institution, but I have met many bigots in my life, but only some of them have been Orangemen."

Mr Wilson said he would be happy to work with the Church and others to tackle sectarianism. A spokesman for the Catholic Church welcomed the report.