As if the Church of England did not have to deal with enough scandals already, another one has now blown up in their face. The Church of England has been enabling Muslim “refugees” to stay in England in part by granting them baptisms in suspiciously large numbers. The newly “Christian” converts then claim they should be granted asylum because returning to their home countries would put them in danger — since they just converted to Christianity, don’tcha know.
Even some judges are questioning how clergy are players in this cynical game. From the Telegraph:
In two separate cases uncovered by this newspaper, judges questioned how local church leaders were able to vouch for the faith of asylum seekers from Iran and Iraq when they were unable to communicate properly with them due to a language barrier.
In one case a vicar claimed to have had an “in-depth” conversation with an Iranian-born migrant whose application he was supporting, despite the man himself saying the pair had never discussed his faith “one-to-one”.
He said their interactions were limited to “greetings and asking how we are … [With] broken English and hand signals.” In the same case the judge found it “very surprising” that church authorities had allowed the man, in his 40s, to be baptised at Wakefield Cathedral only five weeks after arriving in Britain.
The Church of England enabling migrants with questionable asylum claims has been going on for some time. Allison Pearson helped expose a Church of England document titled “Supporting Asylum Seekers – Guidance for Church of England Clergy” that she describes as “a How To Guide for political activists in the Church trying to do whatever they can to help bogus asylum seekers remain in the UK.”
What has caused this mostly hidden wrongdoing to become an open scandal is the brutal acid attack on a mother and two daughters allegedly by Abdul Ezedi, who happens to be one of those new fake Christians seeking to become a fake refugee. He had quite a record even before the attack:
Abdul Shokoor Ezedi arrived in the UK in 2016 illegally on the back of a lorry. He applied for asylum and was turned down. He applied again and was turned down again. In 2018 he was convicted of a sexual assault/exposure offence and sentenced to nine weeks in prison, suspended for two years, plus 36 weeks, also suspended for indecent exposure. He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for a decade.
Hardly a good candidate to stay in the UK, much less out of jail. So he tried a pious ploy:
He then managed to convince a priest that he had converted to Christianity. When he once again applied for asylum in 2020, he was allowed to stay, and crucial to this decision was the evidence of a reportedly Catholic priest that Ezedi was “wholly committed” to his newly found Christian faith.
Ezedi’s claim of conversion has fallen apart since friends have told journalists that he remained a “good Muslim.” He continued to purchase halal meat regularly from his local halal butcher, and had even said he was planning to return to Afghanistan to get married – where, according to his asylum claim, his life would be in danger.
And (although it is unclear at this time exactly which church baptized and vouched for Ezedi) it is this case that has finally brought widespread exposure of the Church of England enabling dangerous fake refugees, even abusing the sacrament of Holy Baptism to do so. The Ezedi case was a last straw for the Rev. Matthew Firth:
The Church of England is complicit in a “conveyor belt” of asylum seeker baptisms used by migrants to remain in the UK, according to a whistleblowing priest.
The Rev Matthew Firth, who was priest in charge at a parish in the north of England, has told The Telegraph how he tried to stop the “veritable industry” of baptisms after discovering the scale of abuse in the system.
He says he personally encountered around 20 cases where failed asylum seekers sought baptisms at his church to support their appeals for leave to remain in the UK. From his conversations with fellow clergy, he believes there are hundreds and “probably” thousands of asylum baptisms.
Mr Firth, 41, who quit his post to join the Free Church of England, says he even witnessed migrants apparently handing money to a Muslim middleman who would bring “cohorts” of asylum seekers to the church for baptisms.
The response of some progressive laity and senior clergy to his efforts to slow the “conveyor belt” of dubious baptisms was icy at best, contributing to his departure to the Free Church of England.
Archbishop Justin Welby’s response to the wider scandal was worse than icy. It was to issue a statement of shameless gaslighting:
Over the last week it has been disappointing to see the mischaracterisation of the role of churches and faith groups in the asylum system.
Churches up and down the country are involved in caring for vulnerable people from all backgrounds. For refugees and those seeking asylum, we simply follow the teaching of the Bible which is to care for the stranger.
It is the job of the Government to protect our borders and of the courts to judge asylum cases. The Church is called to love mercy and do justice. I encourage everyone to avoid irresponsible and inaccurate comments – and let us not forget that at the heart of this conversation are vulnerable people whose lives are precious in the sight of God.
So the scandal is the fault of those exposing misconduct in the Church of England, which church is simply following the teaching of the Bible to care for the stranger.
No, it is not. The Bible does not say one should aid invaders and criminals in their crimes. The Bible does say is it appropriate to defend oneself against them and to punish them. To abuse Holy Baptism to instead enable them is a sacrilege that scandalizes even non-Christians.
Now it would easy for us American Anglicans and other Christians to shake our heads at Justin Welby and the Church of England. They make it rather too easy to do so, do they not? But we have a similar problem in this country. I am not yet aware of numerous bogus baptisms for fake refugees here. But both the Roman Catholic Church and Big Evangelicalism have been aiding mass illegal migration into the United States for years. Catholic Charities and World Relief are prominent in the enabling — and get paid very well for it as I’ve noted on my substack.
I contend it is only a matter of time before this becomes a massive scandal here as well. There are so many criminals and terrorists gaming Biden’s open borders to get in, so many crimes already committed by these “migrants” every day and so many “migrants” aided in their illegal immigration by Christian agencies that it is only a matter of time before a church or parachurch agency becomes implicated with enabling a particularly notorious crime or series of crimes with scandal and righteous anger following.
Catholic Charities, World Relief and others will not stop their lucrative grift of aiding “migrants”. So those churches who have more ethical and common sense must take precautions to disassociate themselves from enabling illegal immigration and worse. I suggest as a start to cease any giving, either directly or indirectly, to World Relief, Catholic Charities or other agencies aiding illegal migration. And document the decision to stop. One way is simply a letter or email telling the agency you are ceasing giving to them due to their aiding illegal immigration. Keep a copy of the letter. An additional step is to draft and pass a statement opposing aid to illegal immigration.
The time may come when it will be helpful to document that your church opposed aiding the Invasion and took steps accordingly. The time may come when it will be helpful both for peace and witness to be able to tell people, with documentation, that you did not aid this ongoing Invasion and opposed it. Plus it is the right thing to do anyway.
I do concede the issue of just how churches should relate to illegal immigrants is not an easy one. But know that the scandal of abusing the offices of the church and even the Holy Name of Jesus to aid criminal migration probably will not stay in the U. K. and the Church of England. The scandal will break out here sooner or later and probably sooner . . . as it should.
