Call not to stigmatise black churches over abuse claims
-21/07/05
Black church leaders and the police yesterday met with government ministers from the Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to discuss issues of child abuse following recent incidents and allegations involving church members.
The meeting was convened by Home Office minister Beverley Hughes, after advice from the churches, following the recent case of Sita Kisanga and her brother Sebastian Pinto, both practicing Christians, who were convicted and sentenced for aiding and abetting the serious abuse of an eight-year-old child they believed to be demonically possessed. An aunt was also found guilty of child cruelty.
Bishop Dr Joe Aldred from the official ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, said at the meeting that the issue of child abuse in the black community needed to be seen in the wider context of abuse in society, and not as something peculiar to Africans or African Caribbean people.
He told the website Black Britain that he wished to broaden this important debate, reject the stigmatisation of African people, and ensure that the problems of other communities were also recognised and addressed
Dr Aldred, who is a Bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy, one of the two largest black majority churches in the UK, said that irresponsible journalism had tarnished the whole community.
He said that some of the groups involved in alleged child abuse incidents were not properly described as churches, but were cults operating outside black church networks. They needed to be monitored and dealt with by the authorities.
If children were abused by religious leaders or members of religious groups then ìthose people need to be held to account under the law as criminals, rather than people of faithî, Bishop Aldred added.
A statement after the meeting released by the UK Department for Education and Skills said that it ìwas part of a process of dialogue and investigation in which all these groups are participating, working together towards a better understanding of the complex issues involved, and deepening engagement with hard-to-reach communities.î
The participants agreed that it was important to ìensure that [church and other communities] are fully engaged in the activity being taken forward.î
Last month a report commissioned by the Metropolitan Police which was leaked to the media raised the issue of alleged child abuse in some black churches which practice exorcism.
The police subsequently rebutted reporting of the document. They said that the coverage was ìsensationalist and did not [accurately] represent the purpose or findings of the reportî.
Bishop Aldred commented: ìWhile you cannot turn a blind eye to any suggestion this might be happening ñ and weíve had two or three case which worry us ñ it would quite wrong to give the impression that child abuse was the staple diet for black churches.î
In the wake of the Kisanga and Pinto case, Labour MP Diane Abbott had called for determined action, including state registration of churches. But the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia advised a measured response including the direct involvement of black churches in tackling the problem.
Call not to stigmatise black churches over abuse claims
-21/07/05
Black church leaders and the police yesterday met with government ministers from the Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to discuss issues of child abuse following recent incidents and allegations involving church members.
The meeting was convened by Home Office minister Beverley Hughes, after advice from the churches, following the recent case of Sita Kisanga and her brother Sebastian Pinto, both practicing Christians, who were convicted and sentenced for aiding and abetting the serious abuse of an eight-year-old child they believed to be demonically possessed. An aunt was also found guilty of child cruelty.
Bishop Dr Joe Aldred from the official ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, said at the meeting that the issue of child abuse in the black community needed to be seen in the wider context of abuse in society, and not as something peculiar to Africans or African Caribbean people.
He told the website Black Britain that he wished to broaden this important debate, reject the stigmatisation of African people, and ensure that the problems of other communities were also recognised and addressed
Dr Aldred, who is a Bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy, one of the two largest black majority churches in the UK, said that irresponsible journalism had tarnished the whole community.
He said that some of the groups involved in alleged child abuse incidents were not properly described as churches, but were cults operating outside black church networks. They needed to be monitored and dealt with by the authorities.
If children were abused by religious leaders or members of religious groups then ‘those people need to be held to account under the law as criminals, rather than people of faith’, Bishop Aldred added.
A statement after the meeting released by the UK Department for Education and Skills said that it ‘was part of a process of dialogue and investigation in which all these groups are participating, working together towards a better understanding of the complex issues involved, and deepening engagement with hard-to-reach communities.’
The participants agreed that it was important to ‘ensure that [church and other communities] are fully engaged in the activity being taken forward.’
Last month a report commissioned by the Metropolitan Police which was leaked to the media raised the issue of alleged child abuse in some black churches which practice exorcism.
The police subsequently rebutted reporting of the document. They said that the coverage was ‘sensationalist and did not [accurately] represent the purpose or findings of the report’.
Bishop Aldred commented: ‘While you cannot turn a blind eye to any suggestion this might be happening – and we’ve had two or three case which worry us – it would quite wrong to give the impression that child abuse was the staple diet for black churches.’
In the wake of the Kisanga and Pinto case, Labour MP Diane Abbott had called for determined action, including state registration of churches. But the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia advised a measured response including the direct involvement of black churches in tackling the problem.