Abbey row over nuclear weapons ‘celebration’

SENIOR clergy have reportedly demanded that Westminster Abbey cancel an event ‘celebrating’ Britain’s nuclear weapons capabilities.

The ceremony is due to be hosted by the Royal Navy next month to mark 50 years of Britain’s at-sea deterrent.

According to the Abbey’s website, it will ‘recognise the commitment of the Royal Navy to effective peacekeeping through the deterrent over the past 50 years’.

But two bishops and more than 20 priests have criticised the event for appearing to ‘celebrate’ the weapons.

The Bishop of Colchester, the Rev Roger Morris, said the ceremony – which will be attended by Defence Secretary Gavin

Williamson – is out of step with church teachings.

‘To celebrate a device that is designed to indiscriminately kill and destroy thousands of innocent civilians is totally incompatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and with our commitment as a church to peace and to the flourishing of all humanity,’ he told The Times.

The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rev Stephen Cottrell, said that last July the church’s general synod affirmed that Christians must work ‘tirelessly’ for the elimination of nuclear weapons because of ‘their indiscriminate and destructive potential’.

He added: ‘While I do not doubt Westminster Abbey’s good intentions to make this service a celebration of those men and women who serve in the Royal Navy and on these nuclear submarines, it is impossible not to view this service as appearing also to celebrate the weapons themselves.’

‘It is totally incompatible’