Press Release: HARRIET HARMAN TO FORCE CATHOLICS TO ACCEPT WOMEN PRIESTS

PRESS RELEASE FROM CHRISTIAN ACTION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATE

Roman Catholic rules barring women from the priesthood will be made illegal under new laws to be voted on by Parliament tomorrow (Monday January 11). The stage is now set for a head-on clash between the leaders of Britain’s 4.3 million Catholics and the Government over the controversial Equality Bill championed by Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman. Outraged peers will attempt to vote down Ms Harman’s proposals in a bid to safeguard the Catholic tradition of an all-male priesthood. But the Harman Bill goes even wider – making it impossible for all churches and faith-based charities – to insist that their senior staff live private lives in accordance with their religious beliefs. It would become illegal, for instance, for a Christian charity to sack a top manager for adultery, living in sin or living an openly gay lifestyle. The same rules would apply to Muslim and Jewish churches and charities. The move has led CARE to call for the urgent amendment of the Bill, warning that it will become illegal for all churches and faith-based charities to insist that their senior staff, including clerics, live lives according to the faith they are employed to uphold and promote. A legal opinion confirms fears among opponents of the Bill that it would force the Catholic Church to admit to the priesthood women and practising homosexuals and to scrap its insistence that priests must be celibate. Similar legislation backed by Ms Harman in 2007 has forced the closure of two Catholic adoption agencies because they refused to comply with new laws requiring them to place children with gay couples. Other agencies cut their links with the Church to stay in business. The warning about the hidden dangers of the Equality Bill are contained in a detailed new analysis carried out by the campaigning Christian charity CARE. Its report ‘A little bit against discrimination?’ warns that proposals contained within the legislation constitute a serious threat to religious liberty in the UK. The report also calls for the amendment of the law that resulted in the closure of Catholic adoption agencies which is being placed before Parliament again as part of the Bill. It highlights inconsistencies in the Government’s approach, which is being applied in a way that seems to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender charities to restrict their services on the basis of sexual orientation but not Christian projects. CARE’s warnings are supported by legal expert John Bowers QC, who in a legal opinion has confirmed that the Bill could make it unlawful for the church to require a priest to be male, celibate and unmarried, or not in a civil partnership. The difficulty with the Bill is that it only gives religious bodies the freedom to insist that a job is filled by someone living the faith in relation to sexual ethics if it ''wholly or mainly involves...leading or assisting...liturgical or ritualistic practices...or...promoting or explaining the doctrine of the religion.'' This will exclude the vast majority of religious leaders since they spend most of their time engaged on other duties. Religious leaders, Members of Parliament and peers have lined up to condemn the pernicious proposals. One SNP critic of the Bill, MP John Mason, warns that ''even a full-time priest, minister or pastor would not 'mainly' be doing that, because much of their time is spent visiting the sick and perhaps with funerals and so on. In fact, therefore, the definition could exclude everybody.'' The changes which would also apply to Muslim Imams and Jewish Rabbis, led to over 100 amendments being tabled in the House of Commons when the Bill was debated and voted on by MPs. But in an attempt to railroad through the legislation, Ministers imposed a guillotine and stopped the majority being discussed. The Bill has now passed to the House of Lords who will start debating the proposals in detail on Monday. The report’s author, Dr Daniel Boucher said, ''The Equality Bill is a direct assault on the freedom of all faith-based organisations, from churches to charities. This Bill will make it unlawful for those organisations to employ people who are committed to a particular set of religious beliefs. “This Bill in its current form is a further blow to the faith-based voluntary sector and will leave many people unable to access services they always have. “This legislation must be revised to recognise our plural society. It must recognise that there are many people in our country who have deeply held religious views and convictions, rather than trying to impose some modern day Stalinistic version of society where there is only ever one view that is right, the Government’s.” Ends. Notes to the Editors CARE is a well-established mainstream Christian charity providing resources and helping to bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives. For media inquiries, or to request a copy of the report please contact Alistair Thompson of Media Intelligence Partners Ltd on 07970 162225 or 0203 008 8145. Copies of the report are also available by visiting, www.care.org.uk/Group/Group.aspx?id=17149 Daniel Boucher, Director of Parliamentary Affairs for CARE, is available for interview. To arrange an interview please call 07768 165543.