A few months ago I learned some new things about the Orange Order (for some history on the OO, see this). Members have been for some period of time attending funeral masses for Catholic friends (and also OO members who are senior political figures have attended certain funerals such as the recent one for a Catholic police officer killed). A friend of mine said that, in the late 1990s the then leader of the OO, Robert Saulters, came out in support of Catholic parishioners being picketed and harassed by bigots. He (my friend) also said there were still a lot of bigots in the OO.
I don't think I'll be changing anything I've typed on this blog about the OO as there's probably still a majority who are more or less sectarian bigots (there is still a rule forbidding members from attending services at Catholic churches (see this article about how the rule IS in fact being enforced)), but I thought I should say something on this blog to acknowledge an apparent change in a positive direction.
(Another update from the BBC- the two OO members were cleared of breaking the rules by attending the funeral Mass)
Tom
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