Elham Asaad Buaras
A Catholic priest in Wales has admitted to posting violent, hateful messages about Muslims and Black people in a neo‑Nazi online chat‑room and has been handed a 12‑month community order.
Father Mark Rowles, aged 57 and formerly attached to St John Lloyd Catholic Church in Cardiff, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on October 30, after admitting to three counts of sending menacing or offensive messages via the Telegram app in May and June 2024.
Cardiff Magistrates’ Court, where Father Mark Rowles, 57, received a 12-month community order on October 30. (Credit: Richard Sutcliffe/Wikimedia)
Under the alias “Skinheadlad1488”, Rowles participated in a far‑right group calling itself the “Aryan Reich Killers”, in which he posted explicit calls to violence. He wrote, among other things, of “bombing mosques”, declared that “they [Muslims] should all be strung up or shot”, and in reference to London’s ethnic minorities said, “a few bullets to their brains would help”.
The court heard from Prosecutor Rob Simkins that the messages were “hostile based on religion and race”. Following a counter‑terrorism investigation into far‑right activity on social media, officers traced Rowles’s Telegram posts and arrested him.
The penalty imposed includes 150 hours of unpaid work, payment of £199 in court costs, and a three‑year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO). Rowles has not returned to ministry since the allegations emerged, according to a spokesperson for Catholic Church in Wales, and an internal review is under way.
Rowles told investigators that he did not regard himself as racist, claiming that his participation in the extremist chat‑rooms stemmed from loneliness and a “sexual fetish for role‑play”. His defence counsel, Jacqui Seal, told the court that he had never previously faced disciplinary action within the Church and had no criminal convictions.
(Credit: West Vale Catholics Parish Magazine/CC)
