Church in religious gesture warning

Old Firm fans taunt each other at every game

Any proposal to prosecute people for making the sign of the cross at football matches would be "absurd and unworkable", according to the Scottish Catholic Church.

The church responded after a report from Scottish parliamentarians into sectarianism said that the gesture could sometimes be construed as provocative.

In their report to the executive, the MSPs cited instances where Celtic fans made apparently provocative gestures to Rangers supporters by crossing themselves.

It was an illustration of the difficulty of the problem rather than a solution to the problem

Donald Gorrie MSP

They said that where this was done in an attempt to rile other fans, police could treat this as a breach of the peace.

However, a spokesman for the Catholic Church said it could see no circumstances in which it would tolerate action being taken against a religious gesture.

Many famous players across the world used the gesture during games, he went on.

"These proposals strike at the heart of people's personal religious beliefs.

"Under no circumstances would the Catholic Church allow this gesture to become illegal.

Prosecution 'absurd'

"To prosecute someone for crossing themselves would be absurd.

"It is widely used across the world. It would be impossible for the police to enforce any law banning this sign at football matches.

"Many Catholic players use this sign throughout a match - for example, before taking a corner or a penalty. Would this mean they are guilty of a crime?"

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Liberal Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie, who is on the working group, said: "My understanding of the sentence the church is concerned about in the report was that it was part of a section illustrating the difficulties of introducing specific legislation for football matches.

"There are actions which are very praiseworthy in the right context, such as a Catholic crossing themselves or singing a national anthem, but these can become very provocative if they are made in a very 'in your face' way to try to rile the other side.

"It was an illustration of the difficulty of the problem rather than a solution to the problem."

Mr Gorrie stressed there was no intention to create legislation and the judgement on what was provocative would be in the hands of the police, security officials and the courts.