Church of England ‘improper’ on migration, says former Archbishop

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has said that the Church of England “must not turn a blind eye to the impact of mass migration on Britain”. 

Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Carey accused the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and bishops sitting within the House of Lords of “blindness to what migration is doing to our country – our culture, our infrastructure and our common life”.

He said that while Britain was and needs to be a welcoming country, some communities are struggling to address large numbers of immigrants, resulting in a “severe lack of housing and services” which is “reaching breaking point in poorer areas”.

“The elites are well-protected, but Britain’s poorest have a special experience. An experiment in mass immigration has been foisted upon them without their consent, changing their lives and their communities,” he said. 

In his article, the 88 12 months old commented on the row over whether the Church of England has unwittingly helped asylum seekers gain asylum with fake conversions to Christianity.

While he agreed with the Church that it is the job of the Home Office to make your mind up on asylum applications, he said that its response had been “thin-skinned” and that “Church hierarchy appears to be denying that there’s a problem in any respect, or anything questionable about its own actions and statements”. 

“While it’s true that the majority clergy are experienced enough to cope with these varieties of pastoral situations, the Church should do more to insist that baptism preparation is rigorous,” he said. 

He called on political parties to commit to bringing down refugee numbers and said that each politicians and church leaders “should do way more to take heed to the voices of those struggling communities which feel alienated and marginalised by unprecedented rates of immigration”.

“And those looking for asylum should only be provided that honour on the strict understanding that they need to leave behind the political and moral structures of their former societies which can be incompatible with the open, democratic values of their latest homes,” he said.