The Catholic Diocese of Derry has called on the anonymous writer of a letter in which it is alleged a now-deceased priest led a bomb attack in Co Derry during the seventies to come forward.
It is alleged in the letter, which was sent to the Ulster Unionist deputy mayor of Derry and to a Northern journalist, that the priest in question confessed to the writer to organising the attack in which nine people were killed in the village of Claudy, near Derry in 1972.
The Diocese said the letter was not signed and said the author "if he or she does exist and if he or she can present credible evidence, he or she should do so to immediately to the Northern Ireland Police Service".
The anonymous writer, who is also apparently a priest, said in the letter that he was prepared to reveal himself and co-operate in any investigation if Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, would head up an inquiry.
Insisting it was disappointing that "a deceased priest of the Derry diocese" had been "maligned," the Church said: "The Claudy bombing was one of the most dreadful atrocities of the past 30 years. As a diocese we offer sympathy to all the victims and their families who have suffered and continued to suffer.
"The Catholic Church in Ireland, and especially Northern Ireland, has consistently and vigorously condemned violence. It continues to do so. It must be stated clearly that the Church has never colluded in violence nor with the perpetrators of violence."
The British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing demands to order an investigation into allegations that a senior policeman shielded the priest in question of planning one of the North's worst atrocities.
A spokesman for Mrs O'Loan, whose office investigates allegations of past and present police misconduct, said she was waiting to receive a copy of the letter from Derry's deputy-mayor Mrs Hamilton.
Agencies