Church of England has become ‘conveyor belt for asylum seeker fake conversions’
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.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he alleges the Church of England has naively turned a blind eye and allowed itself to be used by “people who do not have pure motives”, adding: “It is not direct wrongdoing from the Church but it is complicity, which is not right.”
Mr Firth has decided to speak out after it emerged that Abdul Ezedi, the Clapham chemical attack suspect, was granted asylum after claiming to have converted to Christianity, despite having two convictions in the UK for sex assault and exposure.
Last week, the Church of England insisted it was not its job to vet asylum seekers.
Friends of Ezedi, an illegal migrant, told The Telegraph that he was a “good Muslim” who bought half a Halal sheep every fortnight, despite his apparent conversion. James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, is reviewing the facts of the case to establish if the law needs to be overhauled to prevent such abuses.
Mr Firth said he found an “extraordinary” number of asylum seekers booked in for baptisms when he joined St Cuthbert’s Church in Darlington in January 2018. He claimed the majority – “if not all of them” – were asylum seekers who had failed in their first application for asylum.
His suspicions were further raised after he allowed the first ones to go ahead as they were already booked. “I decided I had to put a stop to the conveyor belt and veritable industry of asylum baptisms that was going on,” said Mr Firth.
He decided he could not deny them the right to baptism but believed they should follow the standard route where they would have to spend six months attending church. “It was clear that it was very unusual to have that number of adult baptisms, all at the same time. It was very unusual,” he said.
Mr Firth claimed he was pressured by asylum seekers’ lawyers to make up claims to support their claims for asylum. “I have direct letters from lawyers asking me to say certain things about their clients. And I said: ‘Well, no, I’m not going to say that, because it’s not true, or I don’t have any evidence of it,’” he said.
He said his stance led to him becoming a victim of low-level, non-physical bullying by progressive activists within the congregation who disagreed with his approach. “There were one or two people who were clearly hostile to me because of my approach to this,” he said.
He claimed that senior clergy turned a blind eye to the problem because high numbers of adult baptisms showed their ministry was being successful by winning converts. “It is wonderful when you have lots of people who are adults who have been baptised,” he said.
‘Complicit in dishonesty’
Mr Firth – a self-avowed traditional evangelical Christian – said the asylum seekers “drifted away” after he introduced the six-month rule but alleged he was “cold shouldered” by the senior clergy, which culminated in his departure from his post and decision to join the Free Church of England.
He said he was aware of such fake conversions going on in “many parishes” in England, largely in areas where there were significant numbers of asylum seekers. This includes Liverpool Cathedral where he was told by one former clergy that half of asylum seekers wanting baptism were not genuine.
“It’s a combination of being naive but also turning a blind eye to what is going on. We have to be discerning,” he said. “All I’m choosing is not to be complicit in dishonesty. Choosing not to be complicit in what is quite a serious situation in terms of security matters but also undermining of culture.”
He said the attempt by the Archbishop of Canterbury to “tar” critics for being unwelcoming and uncaring was insulting. “He’s saying the Church is not there to vet people. Well, no but it is there to be discerning about how it administers baptism,” he said. “When I see him not telling the truth, I am just going to tell the truth.”
He said there needed to be proper safeguards to protect against the “small numbers” who could become a security or criminal threat, like Ezedi, who it has emerged was helped by a baptist church in his asylum claim.
Mr Firth said he did not raise his concerns with his diocese after bringing the baptisms he was concerned about to an end.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Durham said: “We do not recognise the picture these allegations present and have not seen any evidence of such claims.
“Mr Firth no longer ministers in the Church of England, however at no point during his time in office did he raise any of these claims as a concern or an issue. Had he done so, we would have looked into the matter. We would query whether he has ever raised his concerns with the authorities.”
