A Catholic priest who was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan has apologised to an African American couple, four decades after he burned a cross on their lawn.

The Rev William Aitcheson told Philip and Barbara Butler he was “blinded by hate and ignorance” when he targeted them in 1977 at their home in College Park, Maryland.

In a letter dated 8 September, Aitcheson wrote he rejected such beliefs before he joined the priesthood but was too ashamed to face the Butlers.

“I believe now that all people can live together in peace regardless of race,” he wrote.

“I also know that the symbol of the most enduring love the world has even known must never be used as a weapon of terror. Its use against you was a despicable act. I seriously regret the suffering it caused you.”

The Washington Post reported that Philip Butler said in a news conference on Friday that he wants to forgive Aitcheson but is not ready, saying: “I can’t do it yet.”

Aitcheson was sentenced in 1977 to 90 days in jail. In 1982, at the conclusion of a civil suit, Ronald Reagan visited the Butlers at their home.

Aitcheson was ordained in 1988. In August this year he wrote an essay for the Catholic Herald, in which he said violence around a neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a counter-protester was killed, had prompted him to speak publicly about his past.

“While 40 years have passed,” he wrote, “I must say this: I’m sorry. To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me.

“The images from Charlottesville brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget.”

The Butlers and their attorney, Ted Williams, spoke on Friday about Aitcheson’s letter and the recent payment to the Butlers of $23,000 from the overdue civil suit judgment along with $9,600 in attorney fees.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Arlington said in a statement that though Aitcheson had “no legal obligation to make restitution and no obligation under church law either”, he had “felt a moral obligation to pay as much as he could”.

“Plans for his future priestly ministry are still being discerned,” the statement said.