What most people do not know about me is that as an impressionable young man, I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Aitcheson is taking a leave of absence after disclosing... (Associated Press) 
 
 McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest in Virginia is taking a leave of absence after disclosing he once burned crosses as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Reagan's visit came a week after a judge ordered Aitcheson to pay the Butlers $23,000 in damages. Aitcheson is taking a leave of absence after disclosing... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo provided by the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Va., Father William Aitcheson, a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington. Aitcheson, 62, said that 40 years have passed since he was in the Klan, but the images from this month's violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville reminded him that "we cannot forget, we should not forget." Father William Aitcheson, a priest in the diocese of Arlington, described how he belonged to the Klan as a young man in a column published Monday in The Arlington Catholic Herald, the diocese's newspaper. He wrote that images from the rally in Charlottesville “brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget.” 
 
 It isn’t clear how many at his current or past parishes knew of his KKK involvement, although officials at the Catholic Diocese of Arlington said that when he came to the diocese more than 24 years ago, they “learned of his past as well as his sincere conversion of heart.” They said no accusations of racism have been lodged against him while at the diocese. “My actions were despicable,” wrote Aitcheson, 62. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else," he wrote. It’s hard to believe that was me.” 
 
 In a statement, Michael F. Burbidge, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, called Aitcheson’s past “sad and deeply troubling.” 
 
 Aitcheson served with the Catholic Church in Nevada before being transferred to Arlington, where he is originally from, church officials said in a statement. He was ordained in 1988 and has served in a variety of positions at parishes in Nevada; Arlington; Fredericksburg; and Warrenton, Va. His latest assignment was as parochial vicar, or assistant to the pastor, at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax City. Originally ordained for the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, I transferred to my home area here in the Diocese of Arlington. The African American couple declined to talk Tuesday about the burning cross from 40 years ago. Five years after Aitcheson’s involvement in the cross-burning incident at their home, President Ronald Reagan visited the couple and their young daughter, saying it was “is not something that should have happened in America,” according to a May 1982 article in the Post. Aitcheson was sentenced to 90 days in jail in 1977 after a series of criminal charges involving allegations that he was involved in multiple cross-burnings, including the Butlers' home, and had threatened to kill Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. He called the images from Charlottesville “embarrassing,” adding that “for those who have repented from a damaging and destructive past, the images should bring us to our knees in prayer.” 
 
 [Recounting a day of rage, hate, violence and death] 
 
 Aitcheson went on: “Racists have polluted minds, twisted by an ideology that reinforces the false belief that they are superior to others.” Aitcheson also wrote that “the irony that” he “left an anti-Catholic hate group to rejoin the Catholic Church is not lost on me. It is a reminder of the radical transformation possible through Jesus Christ in his mercy.” 
 
 The diocese had received information about Aitcheson’s history when he was officially accepted for ministry in 1998, officials said. Diocese spokesman Billy Atwell said the diocese knew about Aitcheson's past with the Klan when he arrived in 1993, but "just learned this weekend about the civil suit from 40 years ago and will be working with Fr. In his article, Aitcheson wrote that his membership in the Klan is public information, but rarely comes up. One woman, Linda Sun, wrote on the comment section of the Arlington Catholic Herald website that while Aitcheson may “feel good” after putting his story more into the public, it’s a “kind of self-indulgence that does little good.” 
 
 A note at the bottom of Aitcheson’s essay Monday said he had “voluntarily asked to step away from public ministry, for the well being of the Church and parish community.” 
 
 Ellie Silverman, Justin Jouvenal, Magda Jean-Louis and Peter Hermann contributed to this report.
– A Catholic priest in Virginia has stepped down from his duties, at least temporarily, after publicly revealing his position as a "grand cyclops" in the Ku Klux Klan 40 years ago, the Washington Post reports. Rev. William Aitcheson wrote about his "despicable" role with the KKK in an editorial published Monday in the Arlington Catholic Herald. He says he was "an impressionable young man" at the time and has since been transformed through Jesus' mercy. The 62-year-old Aitcheson writes that the events in Charlottesville “brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget.” But he adds: "We cannot forget, we should not forget." In 1977, when Aitcheson was a 23-year-old college student, he was charged with burning six crosses, making bomb threats, and manufacturing pipe bombs in Maryland. The AP reports Aitcheson, who served 90 day in jail, also threatened to kill Coretta Scott King. He now says “racists have polluted minds, twisted by an ideology that reinforces the false belief that they are superior to others.” Aitcheson became a priest in 1988, and the diocese in Arlington says it knew about his KKK past when he arrived in 1993. However, Bishop Michael Burbidge now calls Aitcheson's involvement with the KKK "sad and deeply troubling." The diocese notes Aitcheson "voluntarily" agreed to take a break from public ministry following his editorial.