State Papers: Bishop Hegarty was ‘very annoyed’ at proposals to include Opus Dei and Knights of Columbanus in Police Bill

The Vatican was said to be watching the debate on the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill ‘very closely’, according to a previously secret memorandum sent by Francis Campbell, one of Tony Blair’s senior policy advisors, to Jonathan Powell, the former British Prime Minister’s chief-of-staff.

The memo, dated July 19, 2000, states: “There is growing disquiet in the ranks of the Catholic Church about clause 48 of the Police Bill (regarding membership of associations).

"The Irish Bishops are privately very annoyed that the Government has singled out the Catholic Church by mentioning two of its internal organisations while ignoring the organisations of other Churches in NI.

"The Archbishop of Armagh [Séan Brady] and the Bishop of Derry [Séamus Hegarty] will make strong representations in the near future (in the past the Bishop of Derry has been very helpful on decommissioning and has hitherto avoided comment on the Police Bill).

" A meeting between representatives of the Irish Catholic Church and Ingram's [Adam, Minister of State at the NIO] people will take place tomorrow.”

Mr. Campbell’s letter goes on to warn of the possibility of the controversy escalating into a diplomatic row with the Vatican.

"But the Police Bill aside there is a real danger that this could quickly mushroom into a church-state row. The Papal Nuncio [Luciano Storero] has already written to Peter M [Mandelson, Secretary of State] about the wider implications of clause 48 and in 'Vatican Speak' the letter is quite strong.

"The Vatican is watching the matter very closely. The Pope is unlikely to get actively involved in the issue, but the Nuncio would not have sent the letter to Peter M without his backing,” he noted.

He suggested the NIO had three options; ‘one, delete the amendment listing the Knights of Columbanus and Opus Dei and add the Irish National Foresters; two, have a general requirement that all police officers list their membership of all associations without singling out any in particular; three, add other internal church groups from other denominations to the list of associations thereby ensuring that the Catholic Church does not feel unjustly treated’.

In his letter to Mr. Mandelson the Papal Nuncio had stated: “It is a matter of deep concern to me that it is proposed to include a personal prelature of the Catholic Church in the list of such associations. The Prelature of Opus Dei is an ordinary jurisdictional entity of the Church, erected by the Pope and regulated by Canon Law.”

Monsignor Storero added: “I am confident that Her Majesty’s Government would have no wish knowingly to offend any part of the Catholic Church or to engage in any form of religious discrimination.

"I know also that it is the government's policy to legislate in a manner consistent with fundamental human rights such as equality, religious freedom and freedom of association. It appears to me however that the proposal is deeply flawed in this regard, as much in the specific instance as in the precedent it would establish.”

Opus Dei was ultimately removed from the list of notifiable memberships when the bill was passed in October 2000.

State Papers: Fort George decommissioning complex due to potential ammo, tanks and pollution