§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Attorney-General which religious organisations were approached for assistance when preparing the now abandoned appeal against the decision not to remove charity status from the Unification Church.
The Attorney-General: Such an approach was made to the Church of England. I also received representations from the following organisations:
- The Churches Main Committee
- The Council of Christians and Jews
- The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
- The Ayra Samaj in London
- the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Attorney-General which of the Christian religious organisations, approached for assistance when preparing the appeal against the decision not to remove charity from the Unification Church, were prepared to state that the Unification Church was not a bona fide Christian organisation.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Church of England expressed no view on whether or not the Unification Church is a bona fide Christian organisation. It did, however, declare doubts about the wisdom of attempting to prove in secular court proceedings that the Unification Church is not an organisation of Christian character. It expressed the view that the issues were very far from simple, requiring as they did the making of theological distinctions between orthodoxy, heresy and Christian deviations. Similar views have also been expressed by other Christian Churches and Church organisations.