Parish priest arrested during Palestine Action protest in London

A Catholic parish priest was detained in Parliament Square during the Palestine Action protests that occurred over the weekend, after the Carmelite cleric set out to show support for the activist organisation designated a terrorist group by the UK government, and "determined" to be arrested.

Fr John McGowan of St Joseph’s Parish in Chalfont St Peter village, in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England, has said that the arrest was conducted without resistance and that the police “were polite” throughout the four-hour process. The priest was released on so-called street bail, a form of conditional release pending further investigation.

In comments made to Independent Catholic News (ICN) on 12 August, Fr McGowan said that though he had lived in Jerusalem for five years and had “come to love the country and its people”, he feels that the UK Government “is not doing enough to stop the massacre of the people in Gaza” and that “the last straw was to call PalestineAction a terrorist group”.

“I set out from my parish determined to get arrested,” he wrote. He recalled that while holding a sign that read “I support Palestine Action”, he “quietly asked a policeman to arrest me, which he duly did”, adding that it was the first time in his life that he had been arrested.

Under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to display an article such as a flag, banner or placard in a public place in a way that arouses reasonable suspicion of support for a proscribed terrorist organisation. The Home Office announced on 7 August 2025 that it was adding Palestine Action to the list of such proscribed groups under the Act, making public expressions of support for Palestine Action potentially a criminal matter.

Fr McGowan wrote that he “could not understand” the government’s decision in designating Palestine Action a terrorist group, noting that past protest movements such as the suffragettes and anti-apartheid campaigners had engaged in property damage without being branded terrorists.

Previously, activists with Palestine Action broke into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed two military planes with red paint. Footage posted online by Palestine Action showed two people inside the Oxfordshire airbase in darkness, with one riding on a scooter up to an Airbus Voyager and spraying paint into its jet engine, the BBC reports.

Fr McGowan compared the current situation to protests in the 1990s against British arms sales to Indonesia during the East Timor conflict.

Fr McGowan is due to appear at Poplar Police Station in late September.

“I am prepared for anything, even going to prison," he said. "I have no regrets about what I did. My conscience is clear."

The Catholic Herald called the offices of both St Joseph’s Parish and the Diocese of Northampton, but both proved unavailable for provide further comment.

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