Annie Maguire, wrongly convicted on IRA bombing charges in 1976, was yesterday awarded the Bene Merenti medal on behalf of the Pope. Pope John Paul II awarded it to her three days before he died, and she received it from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, at Sunday morning Mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Kilburn, north London.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said the medal, whose title translates as "well-deserved", was awarded in recognition of her ability to forgive, and for her work for her family, parish and community.
She was one of the "Maguire Seven" jailed in 1976 for alleged involvement in bomb-making in her home in Willesden, north London. Five family members, including her husband Patrick, her sons Vincent and Patrick, aged 17 and 14 at the time, and a family friend were all arrested following the IRA bombing in 1974 of Guildford and Woolwich. A bomb left at the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford killed five people, four of them soldiers, and left more than 100 injured.
Four young people, including Annie Maguire's nephew, Gerry Conlon, were convicted of the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment. Later, while visiting London to see his son and staying with the Maguires, Gerry Conlon's father, Guisseppe Conlon, was arrested, charged and convicted of bomb-making activities. He died in prison, always protesting innocence.
The Guildford Four always denied any involvement in the bombing or the IRA, and in 1989 the Court of Appeal quashed their convictions and released them. The Maguire Seven served their sentences, with Annie Maguire serving nine of the 14 years imposed on her. Both during her imprisonment and following her release, she campaigned for her name and that of her family to be cleared. In 1991 the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of the Maguires.
Last February, British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a public apology to the Maguire Seven and the Guilford Four for the miscarriages of justice.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "Her work for others, her strength as a woman and a human being, her constant faith, her remarkable ability to forgive - these are the reasons why the Pope wanted to single her out and hold her up as an example.
"Anne Maguire and her family suffered wrongful imprisonment for many years. This is an experience that normally produces deep bitterness and drives families apart. But Anne had the gift, which is not given to everyone, of forgiveness."
Thanking family members present in the church, Ms Maguire paid particular tribute to her late husband: "He had a lot of courage the same as I had", she said.
Ms Maguire's parish priest, Fr Francis Ryan, said: "Annie was bigger than the injustice she suffered, and through time and prayer she came right in the end."
Ms Maguire, aged 69, is a mother of four, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of four.