The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned of the appalling suffering that can be caused by the collusion of a silent majority misled by alternative facts and “post-truth”.
Speaking at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day service in Westminster on Thursday, Archbishop Justin Welby said that a recent visit to the camps at Auschwitz/Birkenau reminded him that: “Whilst Jews and others were caricatured and vilified by unscrupulous politicians and venal newspapers, there was an unquestioning acceptance by ordinary people.”
On the same day that US President Donald Trump signed into law an immigration policy that bans immigration from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq; and that would see the weekly publication of a list of crimes committed by immigrants in the US, Archbishop Welby made an impassioned plea for Britain to resist and challenge a culture that colluded with evil.
“Life goes amid a culture of alternative facts, of post truth, of collusion with deeds which sing the tunes of evil, a culture which needs to be challenged at every level and in every conversation and debate in this country, if it is indeed to be a place of safety and healing for those fleeing tyranny and cruelty, if indeed life is to go on, flourishing and fully,” he said.
His comments also came as the US President signed into law his commitment to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and as human rights activists called on Prime Minister Theresa May to reiterate the UK Government’s opposition to the use of torture in her meeting with Trump today.
The call to oppose torture was made as Trump confirmed in the US media that he stands by his campaign trail promise to support the controversial use of waterboarding as a torture by the security services.
Archbishop Welby continued the speech in London by praising the Community Sponsorship Programme, which encourages grassroots organisations and communities to welcome Syrian refugees into their homes.
“Life for them, after yet another place of indescribable suffering, is life that goes on when there is welcome and healing,” he said. A family of Syrian refugees is currently housed on the grounds of Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop’s home in London.
“Participation in the scheme in partnership with Lambeth Council and the Home Office has called us at Lambeth Palace to act on what we say. The road to restoration begins with us. Yes, advocacy for the voiceless, justice for the disenfranchised; but here also, mercy for the refugee. Holocaust Memorial Day and the witness of the survivors cries out to those of these times for nothing less, so that life goes on,” he said.
Read the full text of the speech here.
PICTURE - The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, speaks during a Holocaust Memorial Day service at the QEII Conference Centre in central London on Thursday
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