United Kingdom: Colin Bloom appointed “Faith Engagement Adviser”. The government explores relations with religious communities

The British government decided to start a consultation process to explore which kind of relation it should have with religious communities and how it can support them in the best possible way. It will be led by Colin Bloom, director of the “Christian Fellowship”, who comes from a political background. His appointment will be as “Faith Engagement Adviser” within the Ministry of Communities and Local Governments, then Bloom will report the results of his efforts to MP Robert Jenrick. The purpose of the survey is also to give suggestions about how to “pull down the barriers among religions and promote common values, while setting aside those practices that are detrimental to dialogue”. In particular, the government is interested in hearing the opinions of citizens, leaders of communities of faith, associations and organisations that work in the religious area as well as those of civil servants, teachers, policemen, nurses and doctors and healthcare professionals in general. The respondents can make their opinions known to the government in an anonymous form or sign their own statements. Since quite few Catholics have joined the initiative so far, a webinar has been organised about such topic by Colin Bloom and by the Catholic Francis Davis, a professor in Birmingham and Oxford and a member of “Catholic Voices”, a group of Catholic experts who promote the point of view of the Church through the British media (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faith-engagement-adviser-appointed).
Silvia Guzzetti