Three Catholic politicians from the United Kingdom Independence Party are to be quizzed next week over their party’s manifesto by the bishop responsible for migrants.
Bishop Patrick Lynch, an auxiliary in Southwark, said on Tuesday that he had “plenty of questions on Ukip and the EU as well as immigration” and would be speaking to three MEPs. Their responses will help inform a guidance document on immigration he will issue ahead of May’s general election.
This week the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales issued an overarching piece of guidance to help inform Catholic voters ahead of the election (see below). It stated that the bishops back policies that fairly regulate immigration and recognise the rights of migrants.
Asked if a Catholic could support Ukip, Cardinal Vincent Nichols told The Tablet he was awaiting Bishop Lynch’s report.
In the run-up to the election, eight bishops, including Bishop Lynch, are to release specialist guidance documents exploring various policy questions in greater depth. But Bishop Lynch’s discussions with Ukip are unusual in that he is talking to elected politicians, rather than to party officials. He has already met officials from the Lib-Dems, Conservatives and Labour.
Ukip are a rising force in British politics having received the largest share of the vote in last year’s European elections.
Last year, Bishop William Kenney, the bishops’ conference spokesman on European affairs, told The Tablet he had issued a cautionary note about Ukip, saying he was not convinced their policies would help the “poor and underprivileged”.
Bishop Lynch will meet a Ukip trio that includes the party’s deputy leader, Paul Nuttall, his fellow MEP for the North-West of England, Steven Woolfe, and East Midlands representative Margot Parker.
Among the subjects likely to be discussed is Mr Woolfe’s criticism of a European bishops’ commission for being a “federalist fan club” after it had denounced “nationalist” parties in a report last week.
In a clear reference to groups such as Ukip, Comece – the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union – said that it was a “matter of serious concern” that parties “advocating the supremacy of narrow national interests over universal human values, international commitments and obligations” were gaining ground.
It added: “The Christian vision of universal justice and peace does not allow for any kind of chauvinism – it calls for solidarity and respect for all.”
Mr Woolfe responded that Comece “endorses every EU treaty and power and has done nothing over many years to stand up for Christian beliefs and values. Instead it acts as a cheerleader for the secularising EU.”
He added: “Ukip is rising in the polls among churchgoers because it has defended religious freedom, the institution of marriage, and our Judeo-Christian culture as the basis for a shared civic space.
“I am a Catholic and I stand for faith, family, flag and fairness. My fellow Catholics can see what Ukip stands for, and vote accordingly. St Thomas Aquinas teaches that patriotism, ie love of your country and its people, is a Christian virtue. Perhaps Comece needs to study up a bit.”
Bishop Lynch said the issues he was raising with all the parties included human trafficking and slavery, the resettling of Syrian refugees, dangers for refugees returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the detention of people who have not been accepted as immigrants, visas for domestic workers and the income level required for UK citizens bringing spouses from outside the European Union.
Above: Bishop Patrick Lynch
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