House of Lords defeats controversial clause

(Staff)  The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, spoke recently in the British House of Lords against a controversial employment section of the Equality Bill. He later described his concerns to the public:

“The Equality Bill, which is going through the House of Lords, had contained a 'Genuine Occupation Clause' which would have made it very difficult for a religious group to employ someone of that religion for a position within their organisation, except in the very restricted role of leading worship, [and] explaining or proclaiming doctrines. Thus a church wishing to employ a youth worker would have been unable to advertise for Christians, and priests from other parts of the world would find it increasingly difficult to preach or work in churches here unless it could be demonstrated that there were no suitable local candidates. This is symptomatic of a trend which has intensified in Britain over the past fifty years in the name of tolerance.”

Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, likewise criticized the controversial clause. On Jan. 25 peers in the House of Lords voted down the amendment that would have explicitly stated that the religious exemptions do not apply to the hiring of non-religious positions.