THE Church must wake as much as the acute inequalities experienced by Gypsies, Travellers, and Roma, a conference held at Salisbury Cathedral and Sarum College heard on Wednesday.
A high percentage of individuals attending the Sanctuary Roads event on Thursday — jointly organised by the diocese of Salisbury and the ecumenical organisation Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches — were from those communities, a lot of whom spoke, including teenagers, something that the keynote speaker, the Revd Steven Horne, was “blown away” by.
He is the creator of Gypsies and Jesus: A Traveller theology, and has spoken at conferences around the globe, generally events for community activists and focused on social motion. “Here, we had a lot of teenagers and young children, because Traveller families are inclined to do things in family groups,” he told the Church Times afterwards.
“Seeing their reverence for the occasion within the cathedral was feasible evidence of the religion that I do know to be there. Media representation is generally on sensationalist programmes — [teenagers] were saying they only desired to give you the chance to talk to people about how Jesus works amongst Travellers and Gypsies, and the way he’s at all times been with us in our communities.
“I told the young people, ‘This [conference] is for you, since you’re going to be the following generation that comes through and takes this message forward.’ They really did listen, they usually really did tackle that message.”
Neil Turner/Diocese of SalisburyChildren play games on the cathedral green as a part of a good after the conference, on Wednesday
There are an estimated 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers and 200,000 Roma within the UK. In 2019, the General Synod passed a motion that called on the Church of England to talk out against racism geared toward these groups, appoint chaplains, and make land available for Traveller sites (News, 1 March 2019).
The Salisbury diocesan chaplain to the communities, Canon Jonathan Herbert, said that the Sanctuary conference was “a probability for the Church to see where it has made progress and where it has up to now did not act. . .
“We hope this may increasingly be a turning point in encouraging churches to grasp the blessings that come once they begin to have interaction with the wealthy cultural diversity and deeply held Christian faith of Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities.”
In 1881, the diocese appointed the Revd Thomas Holt as its first “Missioner to Itinerant Van Dwellers” — a chaplaincy post that continued until the First World War.
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Stephen Lake, told the conference: “I promise that I’ll take the commitment this diocese has shown into all the places I am going, due to you; due to the commitment this diocese has made over time.”
Betty Smith-Billington, of the Dorset-based charity Kushti Bok, which advocates for the communities, said: “As a Romany Gypsy woman, I’m pleased to see the Church taking a lead in partnering with Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities to face against the racism and prejudice my community has faced for hundreds of years.
“Often, relating to racial justice, my community has been the forgotten people, incurring stricter punishment than their non-Gypsy counterparts. May the voices of [these communities] be heard and concrete actions taken to bring us racial justice.”
Mr Horne, whose father was a Romany Gypsy, told the conference: “Our promised land is a vision of equality: a society where Gypsies, Travellers, and Roma walk without fear; where schools rejoice our language and traditions; where housing is secure; where our youngsters grow up proud.
“This promise, due to the mistreatment we’ve experienced, seem utopian. But the promise itself is a strong spark that fuels our steps today.”
