THE CATHOLIC HERALD

Established 1888
Charity law is being used as a weapon against the Church
Let us be in no doubt as to the real nature of the threat to Catholic charities posed by guidelines that demand that they show exactly how they benefit the public. The Charity Law Act of 2006, which abolished the presumption that religion benefits the public, was designed to give the Government greater power over religious charities. The Charity Commission, although ostensibly a nonpolitical body, is the agency through which this control will be exercised.
The 82 Catholic charities (including all 19 dioceses of England and Wales) that have complained about this state of affairs are therefore absolutely right to be alarmed. Charity Commission guidelines for interpreting the "public benefit" of religion are too vague, they say. We should not be surprised: governments and quangos love vague formulas, because they allow plenty of room for manoeuvre. As Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor quite rightly observed recently, the Labour government is "legislating for intolerance", inspired by an aggressive spirit of secularism.
The real message of the Charity Law Act can be summed up as follows: sign up to the Government's programme of social engineering or lose your tax-exempt status. Likewise, its underlying philosophy can also be summed up in a sentence: "public benefit" is what we say it is.
Dame Suzi Leather, chairman of the Charity Commission, says that "our decisions about what is or not of benefit to the public will be strongly, and rightly, influenced by what is relevant and appropriate for the modem social conditions of the day. We cannot assume something is beneficial today simply because it was beneficial many years ago." Are we being paranoid, or do those words send a little shiver down the spine?
Neville Kyrke-Smith, UK director of Aid to the Church in Need, a magnificent charity which helps persecuted Christians around the world. has hit the nail on the head: he points out that the definition of public benefit is now wide open to "political whim, change and interpretation" in a "highly political, politically charged, politically correct climate". And it is not only religious charities that are threatened. The Act may well be used to harry and ruin some of the best independent schools in the country, including Catholic ones.
Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff deserves our full support in his battle to preserve the charitable status of Church institutions. But we feel we must make one final observation. The Church in this country has not made this struggle any easier by its support for aspects of New Labour's agenda in the early years of this Government — calling, for example. for more state intervention in the economy. If nothing else, the Charity Law Act should teach the Bishops' Conference to sup with a longer spoon.
The Pope should not be afraid
The attack on Pope Benedict XVI in Rome last Wednesday was widely described in the press as a "major security breach". It was not. In fact, it was hard to tell from the footage if the unarmed madman who tried to climb on to the popemobile wanted to harm the Pontiff, or to hug him.
The Vatican has wisely ignored last week's knee-jerk appeals for a dramatic revision of papal security. Of course, the Pope's sentinels — the men in suits, that is, not the more ceremonial Swiss Guard — should never stop looking at ways of improving their protection. There is no shortage of people who might want to kill Benedict XVI: lunatics, terrorists, fanatical secularists, the list runs on.
Yet the modern papacy, as defined by Pope John Paul II. is rightfully dedicated to public evangelisation: the Holy Father mingling with the adoring crowds. This cannot be performed properly without running a security risk.
Some Catholics find this style of Church leadership inappropriate, even vulgar. They might wish that the Servant of the Servants of God spent more time out of the media's eye, penning encyclicals or re-organising the Curia. But today, more than ever, the pope has an important role as the face of Catholicism. Whatever the risks, he must be a visible sign of faith and truth in an image-orientated and doubting world.
Benedict XVI, who refused to wear a bullet-proof vest during his dangerous trip to Turkey last year, seems determined not to let violent threats hamper his mission as pope. Clearly he has taken on board the message of John Paul II: "Do not be afraid."