Religious leaders speak out over Government's 'unlawful' closure of churches

The closure of churches is “unlawful”, a coalition of Christian bishops and religious leaders have warned, as they threaten a judicial review into the decision to keep doors locked.

Last week France’s Supreme Court ruled that the French government’s absolute ban on religious gatherings in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus is unlawful, and ordered the Government to relax restrictions on religious worship.

Now a group of high-profile church leaders and bishops in the UK have written to the Government seeking an urgent review of lockdown measures that uniformly ban churches from opening.

The pre-action letter, supported by Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, argues that blanket ‘lockdown’ restrictions imposed on all churches are both unlawful and unnecessary, asking the Government to prioritise the re-opening of churches as part of the their ‘exit-strategy’.

The letter also warns that the forced closure of churches by the state “is an extreme interference” with human rights in that it contravenes freedom of thought, belief and religion, and if the Government fails to address the matters, they will seek a judicial review of the ban.

In their letter the church leaders state that the current regulations are “disproportionate in the circumstances where the overwhelming majority of churches had closed down voluntarily in response to the coronavirus pandemic”, and the remainder “had introduced far-reaching precautions against infection”.

The letter says that the claimants are not suggesting that churches should be allowed to function as before the pandemic.

“Rather, our clients’ concern is that, as a matter of principle, the imposition of anti-epidemic measures in the Church is ultimately a matter for Church authorities rather than secular state authorities.”

The letter continued: “While the short-term practical difference between state regulation and church self-regulation may be limited in present circumstances, the principle of Church autonomy is extremely important in the broader constitutional context, and must be protected for the benefit of present and future generations.

“The principle identified above is important for the simple reason that a believer’s worldview is radically different from a non-believer’s worldview.”

Among the list of 24 claimants requesting an urgent meeting with the Government, include: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, President, Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD), Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, Senior Pastor, Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) and Revd. Dr David Hathaway, President of the Eurovision Mission to Europe.

Pastor Ade Omooba MBE, Christian Concern’s co-founder and one of the claimants in the letter, said: “It cannot be right that at present it is lawful to go to a bike shop, B&Q, visit a chiropractor or dry cleaner, and not be allowed to receive Holy Communion or engage in silent prayer in a church.

Churches have traditionally been at the centre of the communities, able to offer counsel, prayer and comfort at times of national crisis. They are at the heart of our communities helping to combat mental health problems, addictions, risk of suicide, domestic violence, poverty and risk.”

“Churches deliver an essential service to the community. The Government should not be putting churches as the lowest priority services for re-opening from the lockdown. We look forward to the response from the Government to this letter and hope that we can engage with the Government to see church ministry prioritised as we start to exit the lockdown.”

The Telegraph understands that advisors to the Government from within Number 10 have been in contact with two of the signatories since the letter was sent on Thursday.

A Government spokesperson said: "We understand how difficult it is for people of faith not to be able to worship. That’s why we are working in partnership with faith leaders, through our Taskforce, to develop guidance that will enable the phased and safe reopening of places of worship.

"This work is a priority and we will issue the guidance as soon as it’s sensible to do so, ensuring that places of worship have sufficient time to put measures in place to safely welcome worshippers back."