The Bishop of Chelmsford stated it was “very tough” to determine whether or not a conversion to Christianity was real, no matter whether or not the particular person was from the UK or not.
Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani appeared on the BBC's Sunday program to debate claims that the Church of England was complicit in asylum seekers gaming the system with faux conversions.
She stated that there would “inevitably” be a “small variety of instances” of individuals attempting to “cheat” us, however that the preparation for baptism was “very rigorous” and that some folks even give it up as a result of it takes too lengthy.
“We take our accountability severely, however we additionally know that as Christians we now have a main accountability to welcome, to be hospitable, to assist and to show, however we now have to do it in a approach that’s clever and conscious that generally there are individuals who may attempt to cheat,” she stated.
The bishop, who got here to Britain as a refugee from Iran, stated she was open to a evaluation of the Church of England's present steerage for vicars on conversion, however added there may by no means be absolute certainty.
“It's very tough to look into folks's hearts and be 100%. And that applies whether or not that particular person is from Britain or an immigrant from elsewhere,” she stated.
“However we definitely encourage clergy to do the perfect they’ll. And I feel what's occurring right here is that inevitably there shall be a small variety of instances.”
Later within the dialogue, she stated it was as much as the clergy to “be as assured as they’ll” that the candidate for baptism was honest and understood what it meant.
“Preparation may be very cautious generally, and that's proper and correct. I feel God forbid you’re taking it severely, irrespective of the place folks come from. It's simply that in the long run it's not possible to show it 100%,” she stated . he stated.
“However we now have this steerage and we make it very clear that clergy have to be as positive as they are often that these in search of baptism absolutely perceive what it means.
“As we've heard earlier than, some folks drop out of the system in the event that they're attempting to cheat it as a result of they notice it's taking longer than they'd ideally like.”
However she stated it was “flawed” that the main focus was on a “very small quantity” of alleged abuses as a result of it “distracts from the systemic issues, which is that we now have an immigration system that’s overwhelmed and inefficient.”
