Bishop's reflection on city disturbances

Published: 11 August 2011

The events of Tuesday evening in Manchester, Salford and other towns across the diocese, together with the violent disturbances in other cities in the last week, have saddened and alarmed very many good and law-abiding people from all backgrounds.

Yesterday morning I spent several hours visiting scenes of destruction from the night before – praying, talking with shopkeepers, meeting police and councillors, engaging with young people etc; and I know that parish clergy in areas where there was unrest did the same. In such circumstances it is important for us to be alongside those who have suffered, and to support and pray for them and for others who, in different ways, are trying to help restore equilibrium in traumatised communities.

The Archbishop of York is speaking today in the House of Lords. He was in touch with me yesterday to offer support, and I have briefed him about the situation locally here.

As I indicated on the media yesterday morning, there are clear responses that need to be made to what has happened; but we must be careful not to promote knee-jerk reactions. I have shaped my own responses in this way:

1. The immediate need to define what happened in practical terms – that is, to name the sin. In our case, as in many places across the country, what took place was criminal. It was opportunist thuggery, vandalism and theft – with mostly targeted looting, often master-minded by older people and gangsters using the blackberry network (who also coordinated the arrival of vans, especially to jewellery shops, timing quick getaway of goods).

2. It is appropriate to call for justice to be done. In the first place perpetrators must face the full force of the law; but it must also include justice, in terms of care and compensation, for those whose property has been damaged or destroyed and whose livelihoods are threatened or gone.

3. I have already sent around a call to prayer – and I know that most, if not all, churches have taken that very seriously, and would, of course, have done it anyway. The Dean, the Rector of St Ann’s, the Methodist Minister and I joined in prayers yesterday morning at St Ann’s alongside the heart of some of the worst damage in Manchester itself. There are also forthcoming prayer vigils involving different denominations and faiths – and these are taking place in various towns and the cities of our diocese.

4. It is clearly important for there to be a careful and intelligent reflection on what the events of the past week mean. There is the ironic contrast, particularly in the North West between young people in the Forces, many of whom are risking or giving their lives - and some being devastatingly and permanently wounded - for the sake of others; and the grasping greed of the young looters here (a significant number of them around the same age) who appear to have little concern for others. It is the contrast between putting service before self and self before service.

There are continuing questions to be asked (for they are not new) about how it is that once-cherished values have been overturned. Or have they (beyond a tragic minority)? There was a wonderful sign of hope in the hundreds of young people who answered the call to come and sweep up. These were good young people from a complete range of backgrounds who were appalled by what had been perpetrated by people of their own age.

5. As I said in broadcasts, the reasons behind all this are very complex. But reasons must not be excuses for what happened. We all know that there is strong evidence of an increasingly me-first, ultra-consumerist society. It will be helpful if we can strike a balance between implying that fresh thinking is required on this, and saying “I told you so”. Nevertheless, what we witnessed on Tuesday night, from a minority of the population, was a demonstration of the default position to which society inevitably returns when its moral framework is missing or ignored. The complexity is heightened by the emerging news of the background of some of the looters – school teaching assistant, wealthy middle-class children etc. So we must avoid simplistic statements of a political and economic nature. Lurking within all this is the age-old matter of how to find ways of challenging natural aggression within young people in a way that benefits rather than harms society.

6. It is good that the Church has not hastened to pontificate on these matters but, in company with other people of faith, has, through its parish clergy especially, quietly got on with the incarnational pastoral task of being alongside, supporting and praying.

7. In all this, it is important for us to pray for our politicians and, especially, for the police and emergency services – many of whom were putting their lives at risk in order to maintain the law and order that enables our society to be free and peaceful. Talking with the police, it is clear that the cat and mouse mobile-phone lawlessness meant they had no methodology to cope easily with that kind of riot. This was , in a sense, a new kind of riot. We had our riot police there with no rioters to confront in the traditional sense. I have personally paid tribute to the bravery of the police in a letter to the Chief Constable. I shall be doing the same to the Chief Fire Officer.

8. Beyond the immediate aftermath and the continuing need to call for calm and discourage reprisals, the daily work and witness of the Church carries on: through the opportunities and responsibilities given to us, through our church schools especially, to provide a moral framework for the 25% of all children in this diocese whom we educate; through the social and caring work done especially, but not only, in our deprived areas to support the marginalised and poor at a time of cut-backs – and to support our ministry of youth work which likewise is hit by cuts. These, and the quiet and effective work done among the communities that our nearly 350 churches serve, become ever more vital.

Finally, let me echo the words of the Bishop of London to his clergy who have faced a much more sustained attack in their communities than, thankfully as yet, we have had to meet:

I am so grateful for the many clergy and believers who have helped those in pain, bewilderment and loss over the past few days. It is our calling to be salt and light in the communities that make up this diocese; and I thank God for our clergy and congregations that have responded to mostly mindless anarchy by lighting candles rather than by torching buildings and who have offered practical and prayerful help in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

With my prayers for our continuing witness together in promoting the values of faith, hope and love.

+Nigel


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