Page 1, 9th March 1990

9th March 1990

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Page 1, 9th March 1990 — Jail threat dropped over poll tax priest
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Jail threat dropped over poll tax priest

by Joanna Moorhead FR Peter Sheridan, who said he would face prison rather than pay his poll tax, has been told that proceedings against him for failing to return his registration form have been dropped.
Fr Sheridan, parish priest of St Bernard's Church in Halifax, was fined £50 after he refused to return his community charge form, saying he was prepared to go to jail if necessary. But last week Calderdale Council decided against taking him to court, saying it now had the necessary information to issue him with a community charge bill, and would drop the matter of the unpaid fine.
Fr Sheridan said he was not disappointed that he would not be prosecuted, as he had got plenty of publicity for his stance. "The Poll Tax is unjust and un-Christian and it's important to make people realise just how awful it's going to be for the poor people of our country," he said. "We've all seen what's happened in Scotland so there's no doubt of the hardship it will cause. In my opinion, the Catholic church should have spoken out more loudly against it than it has done."
The Catholic bishops of England and Wales are expected to wait until their November meeting to make a formal statement about the community charge. They will by then have received the results of a survey currently carried out in parishes around the country for the National Conference of Priests.
Fr Arthur Fitzgerald, who is co-ordinating the survey for the NCP, said this week he had already received a number of responses to the survey, which is being done in three stages. Many of those who had completed the initial questionnaire had written of their great fears and concern about the tax, he said.
"There are clearly a lot of anxieties. The most extreme case I have come across is that of a pensioner who says he has actually contemplated suicide because of his worries about how to pay the tax," said Fr Fitzgerald.
"But there are lots of other cases where the tax is affecting relationships between parents and older children over who will pay the bill, and I know of wives who do not have their own income who are feeling guilty about the burden of their share of the bill.
"I can say for certain that the survey responses so far show that many families on tight budgets just can't see a way to paying their poll tax," he said.




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