Say Cheese!

I had something to say about Bishop Tartaglia the other day - the Catholic Bishop of Paisley.

See post dated 20 November 2011 - 'Church Politics'.

But the good bishop appeared on my radar screen again - this time in an article in the Sunday Times - in which he said that football fans are being "uneccessarily provoked" by police as part of a crackdown on sectarianism in Scotland.

Now whatever could he mean - this sounded very serious - and bishop expanded on his views with the following quote:

"I went to a football game at Pittodrie with a fellow priest.

We were body searched by stewards under the glare of police, and when we took our seats a police officer started intently filming the Celtic supporters and we were in the middle of them. I felt distinctly uncomfortable.

The fans had been quiet and good-natured but I could feel the tension growing. It was an unecessary provocation of the crowd."

Now all of this seems rather unremarkable to me - fans are regularly body searched before going into games - even at Celtic Park - and it is stewards who do the searching under the supervision of the police.

So what's the big deal?

Also the filming of fans is an everyday occurence - modern football stadiums have CCTV all over the place anyway - and presumably the police were simply recording who was amongst the away support - in the event of any trouble during the game.

As Bishop Tartaglia may be aware - unfortunately it is not unknown for football supporters to throw hard objects at referees and players - from within the relative safety of a big crowd of people.

What anyone would have to feel uncomfortable about - is beyond me - unless they have another agenda of course.

So I am now following closely what the Bishop of Paisley has to say on such matters - he seems to be a man of strong opinions - which is a good thing.

It's just that I can't bring myself to agree with any of them - so far at least.