§ 30. Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions they have had with their counterparts in the Roman Catholic Church on investment policy.
§ Mr. Michael Alison (Second Church Estates Commissioner, representing the Church Commissioners)Although the Commissioners have no exactly comparable counterpart in the Roman Catholic Church, they discuss a wide range of investment issues with representatives from other denominations, including the [...]Roman Catholics, at regular Church investors' meetings.
§ Mr. BanksI am delighted to hear it. May I suggest that next time that the Church Commissioners meet representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, they discuss investment possibilities in child care facilities in Bosnia, in view of the grotesque advice offered by the Pope to Bosnian women who have been raped by sub-human Serbian scum that they should have the babies? If the Pope has no better advice to offer women who have been subjected to rape, I suggest that he stays inside the Vatican and contemplates the evils being perpetrated on women in this world.
§ Mr. AlisonAs a fellow Church Commissioner, Madam Speaker, no doubt you appreciate the significance of the church-state link, as demonstrated by the hon. Gentleman, but I am afraid that his observations lie somewhat outside the scope of the Church Commissioners, whose finances are regulated and controlled by statute and have to be directed according to certain specific conditions. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that a large number of lay people in all the Churches dip into their pockets privately to contribute towards the relief of the Bosnian crisis.