A Protestant Order group from Glasgow could be set to march past two Catholic churches during Easter Sunday mass if plans are approved.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry (Bridgeton) will pass both St Alphonsus' and St Mary's churches if plans have applied to Glasgow City Council for permission for a procession on Sunday, April 21, 2019.

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Glasgow City Council's website states that two marches would take place, one beginning at 9.45am on Tullis Street, Bridgeton, passing St Alphonsus'. The other would begin at 12.15pm and continue past St Mary's in Calton.

Catholic groups have shared their "distress" at the prospect of the processions taking place on "most holy of days".

Campaign group Call It Out said: "It is with some distress that we wish to alert the Catholic/Irish Catholic community to a notification of a march by an anti-Catholic organisation which will pass both St Alphonsus and St Mary's, Calton on Easter Sunday. This is a blatant provocation and we will oppose it.

"To seek to pass these churches (both of which will be in use at the time) on the holiest day of the year is a deliberate attempt to inflame tensions. We call on the organisers to step back from this and to listen to our reasonable request to refrain from passing Catholic churches.

"Our position is that no anti-Catholic marches should be routed past Catholic churches. That is now well-known. It is a reasonable request and does not impact on the right to exist and march of any organisation.

"The failure of the organisers of this march to show any sensitivity to the Catholic community in general, and these parishes in particular, on this most holy of days shows a contempt for Catholics which is profoundly disappointing."

In October another Apprentice Boys of Derry march held on Remembrance Day was re-routed after concerns were raised.

On that occasion, as well as the one to be held on Easter Sunday, the group applied to pass St Alphonsus' Church where Canon Tom White was attacked last summer.

In October, a representative for the Apprenctice Boys of Derry (Bridgeton) told a Glasgow City Council committee that members of the group were largely older people who “aren’t really the fighting type” and that they had been lumped in with other Protestant bands as “one big loyalist monster”.

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He also claimed the band had marched past the church for 20 years without incident, and that by refusing the march a “no-go zone” was being created.

The Apprentice Boys also voluntarily re-routed an August 2018 march away from the church after talks with police and council bosses where concerns where raised.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry have been approached regarding the issue.

Police Scotland declined to comment.

This story originally appeared in our sister The Evening Times