I grew up in Northern Ireland, part of a Protestant community that harbored a long-standing negative view of Roman Catholics. So I started life with a distorted view of my Catholic neighbors. 

In 1968 the Northern Ireland “Troubles” started. This was a violent conflict between mostly Protestant unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, and Catholic nationalists, who wanted our province to become part of the Republic of Ireland. 

Over a period of about thirty years, thousands were killed and tens of thousands injured, with much of the bombing and shooting attributed to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), representing the nationalist viewpoint. Several good friends of mine were killed. In one incident, a neighbor’s husband and two cousins were murdered on their farm by the IRA.