Bishop of Hulme: Church of England should be Part of Cohesion Debate

The Bishop of Hulme has reacted to a leaked Church of England paper that criticised the Government's drive to turn Britain into a multi-faith society, by saying that the Church of England should be part of the cohesion debate.

The document, leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, condemned various aspects of the Government's integration policies, stating that its attempt to make minority "faith" communities more integrated had only left society "more separated than ever before".

The paper also challenged the "widespread description" of Britain as a multi-faith society and even called for the term "multi-faith" to be reconsidered.

It went on to claim that divisions between communities have been deepened by the Government's "schizophrenic" approach to tackling multiculturalism. While trying to encourage interfaith relations, it has actually given "privileged attention" to the Islamic faith and Muslim communities.

Written by the interfaith adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Guy Wilkinson, the paper added that the Church of England had been sidelined in favour of "preferential" treatment to the Muslim community, despite it making up only three per cent of the population. Britain remains overwhelmingly a Christian country at heart and moves to label it as a multi-faith society suggest a hidden agenda, the paper said.

"I think the paper raised some very important issues which resonated with the House of Bishops' feeling," said the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, also the Church of England's Bishop for Urban Life and Faith.

"There is unhappiness about the way in which the Government is ignoring the immense contribution that the Church of England is making to interfaith relations," he told Christian Today.

Bishop Lowe pointed to the many examples of Church of England churches that provide hospitality to Muslims as well as the many Church schools attended by Muslims.

"We ought to be a part of the community cohesion debate and we want to play a full part in that process and have our contribution recognised," he said.

The report criticised a string of Government initiatives used by the Government since the London bombings in July last year to win favour with Muslim communities. These include "using public funds" to fly Muslim scholars to Britain, shelving legislation on forced marriage and encouraging financial arrangements to comply with Islamic requirements. These efforts have undermined its interfaith agenda and produced no "noticeable positive impact on community cohesion", the Church document says.

It can also be revealed that the Archbishop met Miss Kelly, the Communities Secretary, last month to discuss how the Church of England could contribute. Bishops are dismayed that no Christian denomination is represented on the commission.

The bishops' document questions how effective it will be and says the focus for solving the problem should not be placed on one particular minority but "with the 'majority' communities and in the core culture".

"In relation to faith, there has been a divided, almost schizophrenic approach," the briefing paper says. The Government was misguided in "scapegoating the Muslim community as the source of the problem at the same time as believing that they should be uniquely responsible for solutions". It goes on: "The contribution of the Church of England in particular and of Christianity in general to the underlying culture remains very substantial."

The leaked report follows a week of tension in which a Muslim policeman was excused from armed guard duty at the Israeli embassy in London, Asian and white youths clashed in Windsor, and Jack Straw suggested that Muslim women should not wear the full veil across the face in public.