A US Catholic priest has said he is temporarily stepping down after writing an editorial on Monday (21 August) in which he revealed he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) 40 years ago.
Father William Aitcheson, writing in The Arlington Catholic Herald, said the recent Charlottesville violence had prompted him to revisit his “despicable actions.”
The Charlottesville images “brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget,” Father Aitcheson wrote in the editorial.
“The reality is, we cannot forget, we should not forget. Our actions have consequences and while I firmly believe God forgave me — as he forgives anyone who repents and asks for forgiveness — forgetting what I did would be a mistake.”
The 62-year-old assistant priest at St Leo the Great in Fairfax, Virginia, said he had joined the Klan as an “impressionable young man” who was “in no way practising my faith”.
According to the Washington Post, Father Aitcheson was a leader of the Robert E Lee Lodge of the Maryland Knights of the KKK in the 1970s.
The group was allegedly planning to bomb the homes of black people and the offices of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in Prince George's, Maryland.
Police officers who searched Father Aitcheson’s home at the time found nine pounds of black powder, weapons and bomb parts.
“While 40 years have passed, I must say this: I’m sorry,” Aitcheson wrote. “To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me.”
Aitcheson’s involvement with the KKK ended in 1977. In his editorial he credits his change of heart to “a lot of soul searching" and a return to Catholicism. He was ordained in 1988 and served at churches in Nevada, Maryland, and Virginia, according to church officials.
“We must condemn, at every opportunity, the hatred and vile beliefs of the KKK and other white supremacist organisations,” he wrote on 21 August. “What they believe directly contradicts what we believe as Americans and what we, as Catholics, hold dear,” he continued.
“There have been no accusations of racism or bigotry against Father Aitcheson throughout his time in the Diocese of Arlington,” Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, said in a statement.
It is yet to be confirmed whether Father Aitcheson will return to his duties as a pries
PICTURE: An anti KKK banner is seen during march Against Hate Held in Philadelphia, PA on 166 August 2017. Demonstrations are being held following clashes between white supremacists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend
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