Church accused of operating ‘conveyor belt’ of asylum seeker baptisms

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 attempted to stop the “veritable industry” of baptisms after discovering the scale of abuse in the system.

He said he personally encountered about 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, said he even witnessed migrants apparently handing money to a Muslim middleman who would bring “cohorts” of asylum seekers to the church to get baptisms.

In an interview with The Telegraph, he alleged 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 the Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi 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 is 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 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.

“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,” he said.

Mr Firth claimed he was pressured by asylum seekers’ lawyers to make up claims to support their claims. He said: “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 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, saying: “It is wonderful when you have lots of people who are adults who have been baptised.”

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

‘There were one or two people who were clearly hostile to me because of my approach to this’

clergy, which culminated in Mr Firth’s departure from his post and his subsequent 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 Mr Firth said that he was told by one former clergy that half of asylum seekers wanting baptism were not genuine.

Mr Firth added: “It’s a combination of being naive but also turning a blind eye to what is going on.

“We have to be discerning. 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.”

Mr Firth said that the attempt by the Very Rev Justin Welby, 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.”

Mr Firth also said that there needed to be proper safeguards to protect against the “small numbers” of asylum seekers who could become a security or criminal threat, like Ezedi, who it has emerged was helped by a baptist church in seeking his asylum claim.

Mr Firth said he did not raise his concerns with his diocese, after bringing the baptisms about which he was concerned 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.”

‘It’s a combination of being naive but also turning a blind eye to what is going on’