Church of England baptises hundreds of asylum seekers

Jul 8, 2017 by

By Steve Doughty and Tom Witherow, Mailonline:

The Church of England has christened hundreds of asylum seekers who hope to use their new-found faith to win the right to stay in England, a senior bishop has revealed.

One church alone has baptised 200 Iranian asylum seekers, according to documents placed before the Church’s parliament, the General Synod.

Many of the new converts are thought to have used their beliefs as part of asylum claims put to the Home Office and to immigration court hearings.

[…]  The disclosure of the Church’s deep involvement in helping asylum seekers in claims for refugee status comes ahead of a debate on relations between inner city parishes and other faith groups when the Synod meets in York this weekend.

Bishop Robinson acknowledged in a paper prepared for the Synod that the CofE’s move into asylum assistance has not pleased some members of existing congregations.

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