“The church needs to work creatively with the government and local community in making the Christian faith real to a whole generation of people who find themselves distanced from the church,” said the Bishop of Down and Dromore in a statement last week.
The Rt Rev Harold Miller was responding to the recent spate of vandalism involving children at St Donard’s Church, east Belfast. The child vandals have climbed onto the church roof, thrown down slates from the roof, smashed windows set firecrackers off during services.The story of this church building is a symbol of what is happening in our society.
The Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Rev Harold Miller
Bishop Miller praised the rector at St Donard’s, the Rev Charles McCartney for his handling of the situation, saying he was “to be congratulated for his courage and leadership in seeking to deal with some of these issues which are important for everybody as we build a positive society for the future”.
Rev McCartney last week criticised local police for failing to respond adequately to the incidents.
"Unfortunately, because the local station (Willowfield) that looks after us during the day is closed in the evening, then we have police from neighbouring stations who come and simply take a few details," he said.
"Then they pass it back to the local station the next day, so they're not really interested," he said.
Rev McCartney also received a cool response from police for taking pictures of the young culprits in the act of vandalising the church in order to help identify them.
"The police were actually almost upset by this route and really advised us that we should not be taking photographs of children," he said.
Bishop Miller defended St Donard’s actions, saying the church members had been “thoroughly Christian in their response” and that they were praying for the children involved.
He went on to complain of a “lack of visibility of police on the streets, the difficulty in getting hold of police in the community, the slow response in situations which means that it is too late to catch those who are committing the crime, and the perceived response, ‘there’s nothing we can do’.”
Bishop Miller also complained of a “lack of common sense” in the police response to the photos.
“We understand the potential dangers of photographing children in a child protection context,” he said. “However it is amazing that someone might be criticised for taking photos, for evidence purposes of those who are both committing a crime and endangering their lives.
“It would be an unbearable world if people simply had to grin and bear it, and were not able to be sensibly proactive in seeking to resolve such situations.”
The Bishop said this kind of vandalism has happened in other churches, pointing to a lack of spiritual values as the root cause of the incidents.
“Sadly, we are all responsible for creating a world where spiritual values have not been passed on to many children,” he said.
“The story of this church building is a symbol of what is happening in our society, and a salutary reminder that no cohesive society can exist without strong family life, moral values, and a faith-dimension.
“We as a church commit ourselves to increasingly playing our part in developing these along with others in the community.”
Bishop Miller will show his support for members of St Donard’s by joining them at this Sunday’s evening service.
