Anglican Mainstream

By Andrew Carey for CEN 20 March 2008

HATE CRIMES against clergy and churches are on the rise, it was revealed this week in the wake of an attack on a Tower Hamlets cleric, Canon Michael Ainsworth. Canon Ainsworth is recovering from an attack two weeks ago in which he was beaten-up after asking two Asian youths to quieten down in the graveyard of St George’s-in-the-East, Shadwell. The 57-year-old was repeatedly punched and kicked while one of the young men shouted religious abuse. His wife, the Rev Janina Ainsworth, who took the Palm Sunday service on her husband’s behalf, said the community was shocked and distressed by the incident. Nick Tolson of ChurchWatch, an organisation which advises on security for religious buildings, said that the issue of hate crime against Christianity was an "off-limits subject". He said that in seminars he conducted around the country he had been told of attacks on churches and clergy in areas dominated by ethnic minorities. He added that the church, police and Crown Prosecution Service had failed to research this area.

"The harassment is usually coming from young Asian men – often but not exclusively, Muslim. "The police and prosecutors will classify an attack on a mosque or Muslim as a hate crime but not if it is a church or a vicar," he said. On Good Friday last year, St George’s was targeted in another attack when bricks were thrown through the stained glass windows during a service. One Asian PCC member of St George’s, Allan Ramanoop, revealed that parishioners were too scared to challenge the gangs. He said groups of youths abused parishioners on the steps of the Church. "On one occasion youths shouted: "This should not be a church, this should be a mosque, you should not be here.""

The Church of England was accused this week of being in denial about the problem by a Christian expert on Islam, Dr Anthony McRoy, who lives in the neighbouring borough of Newham. He said there had been attacks in Bradford, Blackburn and Burnley, including a firebombing incident. He questioned why these incidents had never reached the national newspapers "You can’t just dismiss these as isolated incidents. There is a need for Muslim community leaders to start confronting the problem of youth sectarianism. And a need for the Church to stand firm. This should be met with the same response as racist attacks. "There’s been a shocking silence from council leaders," he declared, "particularly the Greater London Authority and the Mayor. If they fail to respond we shouldn’t be surprised if the Islamophobic and racist BNP do so."

Police confirmed that they were treating the attack on Canon Ainsworth as a religiously-motivated attack. The Crown Prosecution Service revealed last month that cases aggravated by religious factors had fallen by 37.2 per cent. There were 27 prosecutions in the past year – 17 victims were Muslims, three were Christian, two were Jewish and one Sikh.

This follows comments made by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who earlier this year warned of the creation of "no-go areas" where Christians were being made to fell unwelcome because of their faith

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