Sir, - Brian T. Hickey's ready defence of Jorg Haider (December 27th) is hasty and more than a little short-sighted. While the Vatican itself defended the visit much along the same lines as Mr Hickey did, citing protocol and an open-door policy, it should have realised the dangerous ramifications of hosting the leader of the overtly racist Freedom Party.
Haider's apologies for his pro-Nazi sentiments and his voiced "admiration" of Hitler's employment policies were uttered only under pressure from his many critics and his most recent comments show his politics have not matured from the hate-mongering for which he is notorious. Mr Hickey would do well to acknowledge that the "left-wing demonstrators" who objected to the visit are not demagagues, nor are they "hysterical Communists", as Haider has called those who oppose discrimination, racism and ethnic cleansing. Rather, they are people concerned by the Vatican's public acceptance of a man who, only last October, called for "the uncompromising elimination of all illegal immigrants" in Austria, proposed a ban on all anti-government protests, and routinely ridicules European leaders for accepting refugees.
Europe has seen a dangerous rise in right-wing violence on city streets and these thugs take licence for their actions from vitriolic speeches by leaders such as Haider, most recently basking in the limelight afforded by the visit to Rome. While there, he could not resist furthering his xenophobic creed, using the event as a platform to preach national unity and brand the Italian prime minister and president as "weak men" because they were "soft on immigration". Remember, these comments are coming at a time when conflicts throughout the world have led to an increase in refugees and the tight, discriminatory immigration policies of wealthy countries are forcing these people to seek more desperate and dangerous means to find safety in Europe. The meeting between Haider and the Pope flies in the face of the Pope's long-awaited and historic apology for Church persecution of Jews. The decision to meet Haider must be seen as an historic and moral failure by the Vatican and is deeply disappointing to an observer who had hoped that the apology to Jewish people had signalled a new dawn for the Vatican. Facism was, quite simply, the greatest evil of the past century and it is our duty to ensure it becomes a thing of the past. Haider's visit to Rome makes attempts to do so much more difficult. - Yours, etc.,
Brian Garvey, Ballyrath Road, Armagh.