NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      DUBLIN (CWNews.com) - A new Protestant extremist group set up in Northern Ireland has threatened to wage war on "the enemies of Ulster," according to media reports last week.

      Eight masked members of the so-called Orange Volunteers took a hooded journalist to a secret location where -- following a Bible reading -- they showed off guns and grenades. They threatened to target members of the Irish Republican Army who had been freed early from prison as part of the Good Friday peace agreement of April 10. The demonstration ended with prayers.

      The Volunteers also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Catholic bars and businesses last month, though police said they only investigated one such incident.