Churches in Croydon are working together to welcome children from the demolished “Jungle” camp in Calais.
Volunteers provided by St Mary’s Catholic Church, St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church and West Croydon Baptist Church, coordinated by the charity Citizens UK, have been working at Lunar House, the Home Office immigration centre in south London, to look after the children as they arrive.
The volunteers have all been checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which prevents unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. DBS replaced the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).
Between 240 and 300 children have so far been brought to Britain from the Jungle.
Fr Michael Scanlon of St Mary’s Church said: “The camp is a stain on humanity’s history. We had concentration camps in years gone by, and people are losing their lives in Calais as well. There was a 14-year-old boy who committed suicide a few weeks ago, just because he couldn’t get over here.”
Last week, the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams joined the Anglican Bishop of Croydon, Jonathan Clark, who Citizens UK called a catalyst behind the welcome movement, to greet the first children to arrive at Lunar House. Lord Williams said the UK had a “basic moral imperative” to welcome the children, whether or not they had family here. Fr Scanlon said: “Social justice is part of the journey of faith. We are called to witness the Gospel and to love our neighbours. This story of welcome has provided an opportunity to do so.”
Ruth Kelly: we need faith schools to combat extremism
Rather than being the problem, “faith schools might be part of the solution in terms of promoting integration and countering extremism,” the former education secretary Ruth Kelly said this week.Writing in the Irish Catholic, Ms Kelly looked at why faith schools are required to accept pupils of other faiths and none.
Ms Kelly’s predecessor, Alan Johnson, attempted to introduce an admissions requirement of 25 per cent from other faiths, but it was blocked by Catholic MPs. A 50 per cent requirement for new schools only was later introduced by Michael Gove.
Ms Kelly said that opponents of faith schools have three arguments: that they are socially divisive and create inequality, that they undermine community cohesion and that they are potentially dangerous giving rise to extremism.
“Far from promoting social division, the evidence suggests that Catholic schools are a force for social inclusion, a force for community cohesion,” she said. As for the risk of Muslim faith schools promoting radicalism, the schools where “dirty tricks were being used to oust non-Muslim staff”, she said, were all state schools, not faith schools.
Forty Martyrs mosaic unveiled
A new decorative scheme commemorating the 40 martyrs of England and Wales has been completed in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs in Westminster Cathedral. The chapel was dedicated last Friday by Cardinal Vincent Nichols.The design, by Tom Phillips CBE RA, depicts the Tyburn gallows beneath the martyrs’ names, which are emblazoned in mosaic across a dark sky.
