Scottish Catholic Observer

Fr William Aitcheson, an assistant priest at St Leo the Great Church in Fairfax, spoke out about his past as a Ku Klux Klan ‘wizard’ 40 years ago following the recent events in Charlottesville, in a column published in the diocesan newspaper, the Arlington Catholic Herald, where he asked for his own forgiveness and encouraged white supremacists to repent.

Fr Aitcheson, who was ordained in 1988 in the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas and working in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia since 1993, was convicted in 1977 following several cross-burnings, with one even eliciting a response from then-President Ronald Reagan some years afterwards.

As a student at the University of Maryland, he was arrested in 1977 after he was identified by authorities as the ‘wizard’ of a KKK lodge of 12 people, and charged in both state and federal courts with cross-burnings, and a threat to kill Martin Luther King Jr’s widow, Coretta Scott King, ultimately being sentenced to 90 days in jail.

He was ordered to pay $23,000 dollars to Philip and Barbara Butler, a black family were victimised following one of the cross-burnings after they moved to a predominantly white area in College Park, Maryland, causing President Reagan to assure the family that the attack was misrepresented the views of most Americans. “My actions were despicable,” said Fr Aitcheson. “When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else. It’s hard to believe that was me.

“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.

“Those mistakes have emboldened me in my journey to follow the God who yearns to give us his grace and redemption.

“We must condemn, at every opportunity, the hatred and vile beliefs of the KKK and other white supremacist organisations.

“What they believe directly contradicts what we believe as Americans and what we, as Catholics, hold dear.

“As a young adult I was Catholic, but in no way practising my Faith.

“The irony that I left an anti-Catholic hate group to rejoin the Catholic Church is not lost on me. It is a reminder of the radical transformation possible through Jesus Christ in his mercy.”

The 62-year-old priest, who has asked for a ‘voluntary’ leave of absence from public ministry, ‘for the wellbeing of the Church and parish community’, said that his membership of the KKK is public information but it seldom comes up.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington said the priest’s past was worrying but hoped that his story would help others to change their ways.

“I pray that in our current political and social climate his message will reach those who support hate and division, and inspire them to a conversion of heart,” he said.

A diocesan spokesman, Billy Atwell said that the diocese were aware of his past when he joined in 1993, but only learned over the weekend of the civil suit four decades ago, and ‘will be working with Fr. Aitcheson to ensure he meets all of his legal and moral obligations to make restitution.’

The diocese added that it was positive that his transformation was true, ‘evidenced, in part, by the face that we have had no accusation of racism while ministering.’

Fr Aitcheson also had a message for any white supremacists. “You will find no fulfillment in this ideology,” he said. “Your hate will never be satisfied and your anger will never subside.

“I encourage you to find peace and mercy in the only place where it is authentic and unending: Jesus Christ.”