Church ‘must act now to tackle racism’

THE Church of England must act urgently to root out institutional racism, an internal inquiry has warned.

The Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce has made 7 proposals to end a ‘rut of inaction’ spanning several decades.

These include the requirement that shortlists for senior clergy should include at least one minority ethnic candidate by September.

The taskforce is also calling for annual reports on recruitment, mandatory training to embed anti-racism practice, and full-time racial justice officers.

It wants to see a plan drawn up to lift representation of minority ethnic people to at least 15 per cent at all levels of governance by 2030.

There are just five minority ethnic bishops and nine deans, archdeacons and senior staff.

The report says: ‘Decades of inaction carry consequences and this inaction must be owned by the whole Church.

‘A failure to act now will be seen as another indication, potentially a last straw for many, that the Church is not serious about racial sin.’

The nine-member taskforce was set up in autumn 2020 after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the Church was still ‘deeply institutionally racist’. It examined more than 20 reports to find where action had fallen short.