Twosugars |
15-01-2020 10:03 PM |
Britain's vicars won't be ringing the bells for Brexit
t was billed by eurosceptics as the symbolic moment that would signify the post-Brexit era: church bells ringing out on 1 February in celebration of the UK freeing itself from the shackles of the EU, a nationwide accompaniment to the bongs of Big Ben in Westminster.
But to the possible disappointment of the most fervent Brexit supporters, members of the clergy canvassed by the Guardian were not interested – and neither were the bellringers.
With church law saying that only the local parish priest has the authority to decide when bells should be rung, Leave.EU’s campaign to “let the bells ring for Brexit” immediately posed a dilemma for vicars across the country.
But after the Right Reverend Alan Wilson, bishop of Buckingham, told the Today programme that “instrumentalising church bells” to express a political view was “pretty tacky actually”, his fellow priests mostly said that they would be staying neutral.
More at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...lomatic-vicars
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