Parishes given advice on how to avoid discrimination

NEW GUIDANCE for Catholics on putting current equality law into practice was published this week by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Such issues as the refusal to let a church hall to certain groups, whether particular parish employees should be Catholics and whether the law requires disabled access to every part of a church building are some of the issues covered in the guidance.

In his introduction to the document, Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, chairman of the conference department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship, notes that the 2010 Equality Act contains a set of “protected characteristics” – which include the freedom from discrimination on grounds of age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief – but he said that there is no hierarchy of importance.

In terms of specific advice, the guidance says it is permissible to refuse to let a church hall to some groups, since church premises cannot be used for any purpose that is incompatible with Catholic teaching. There have been concerns that a parish might be sued if it refused to allow its parish hall to be used by a gay couple wishing to celebrate their marriage.

On advertising for employees, the document states that it is “highly unlikely that it will be lawful to advertise for a specific religious persuasion” for a job such as an organist or a cleaner, unless there are reasons why she or he must be a Catholic.