UK visas: YES to radical Islamists, NO to Christian archbishops

Dec 2, 2016 by Jill

From Barnabas Fund:

It is hard to imagine a more incongruous headline – just as the world’s attention focuses on the liberation of Mosul, the UK government has refused to grant a visa to the Archbishop of Mosul to attend the consecration of the UK’s first Syriac Orthodox cathedral, a church whose flock includes many refugees fleeing persecution from Islamists in Iraq and Syria.

Last week saw great celebrations as St Thomas Cathedral in London was consecrated by the worldwide head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II. HM the Queen sent a personal message, while Prince Charles was the guest of honour and addressed the congregation. The service was attended by senior UK church leaders including the Bishop of London, while the UK Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP, sent a letter to be read out to the congregation. Mrs May’s letter spoke of how “the appalling violence that has afflicted so many areas of the Middle East reminds us how fortunate we are to live in a country where different religious beliefs are not only tolerated, but welcomed”.

Yet that welcome did not extend to either Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, the Archbishop of Mosul or to Timothius Mousa Shamani, the Archbishop of St Matthew’s (which covers the Nineveh valley in northern Iraq) who were refused UK visas to attend the cathedral’s consecration in London. The UK also refused to grant a visa to Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, the Archbishop of Homs and Hama in Syria. In his case the British Embassy told him that they would not waver from their policy of not granting visas to anyone in Syria. The diocese of each of these three archbishops has been taken over by Islamic State (IS) with Christians executed, enslaved, or forced to accept dhimmitude and pay jizya. Churches there have been either destroyed or converted into mosques. The Archbishop of Mosul was in fact the last senior churchman to leave Mosul in July 2014 when IS seized it. His cathedral is now a mosque.

Read here

Read also: Persecuted Middle East Bishops banned from visiting UK, by Archbishop Cranmer

Choosing anti-truth: the 3 Syriac bishops, the Home office and Nissar Hussain, by Gavin Ashenden

CitizenGo petition to the Home Office

Scores of Anglican clergy complain to Home Secretary about Syriac Orthodox Bishops banned from visiting UK, by Archbishop Cranmer