Threat to Anglican church phone masts 'that relay porn'
Pastor Dale Morgan
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Threat to Anglican church phone masts 'that relay porn'*
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 12/03/2007
The Church of England is facing an embarrassing test case over whether
mobile phone masts on steeples are illegal because they can relay
pornography.
The church's highest court is to hear an appeal after a diocesan judge
ruled that churches were "wrong in law" to "facilitate the transmission
of pornography, even in a slight or modest way".
A parish church, the Church of England is facing an embarrassing test
case over whether mobile phone masts on steeples are illegal because
they can relay pornography
Many parishes have allowed telecom companies to put antennae in their
towers and steeples
Many parishes have cashed in on the mobile phone boom by charging
telecom companies thousands of pounds a year to put antennae on their
towers or steeples. Even Guildford cathedral has a mast under its golden
angel weather vane.
They were encouraged by official Church guidance, which acknowledged
that immoral material can be transmitted by the new technology but
argued that any "ill" was outweighed by the benefits.
However, critics said mobile phones can now transmit dangerously obscene
internet images and the church should dissociate itself from such
technology, especially after the General Synod condemned media
exploitation last month.
The contentious issue has now reached the Archbishop of Canterbury's
800-year-old Court of Arches, which is due to hear an appeal against the
ruling by the diocese of Chelmsford's consistory court within weeks.
The row began in October when Chancellor George Pulman, Chelmsford's
ecclesiastical judge, rejected an application from St Peter and St Paul
church in Chingford, north east London, to erect a T-mobile base station
in its spire.
In his judgment, Mr Pulman, a QC who also sits as a deputy High Court
judge in the Family Division, became the first Chancellor to refuse a
faculty on the grounds that "revolting and damaging" pornography could
be transmitted by the network. He said that it was "no part of the work
or the mission of the Church" to facilitate or gain financial advantage
from the transmission of pornography.
He said: "No Church bookstall would consider it appropriate to offer for
sale 'top shelf' magazines with their images of sexual titillation or
impropriety."
Mr Pulman also attacked local authorities for granting planning
permission for such antennae, saying that their social services
department were well aware of the dangers to children.
The Rev Chris Newlands, the chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt
Rev John Gladwin, said at the time that this was a landmark ruling.
The MP for Chingford, the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, said he
welcomed the ruling which was a "victory for common sense".
But the judge's words flew in the face of guidance issued in 2002 by the
Archbishops' Council after signing a national agreement appointing the
QS4 communications company as the Church's approved mast installers.
The council, which is chaired by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York,
said: "Clearly there is a risk with any communication medium that it
will be used for ill; but this has to be balanced against the enormous
good which can flow from mobile communications - such as emergency
calls, or the simple pleasures of people keeping in touch."
It added, however, that parishes "who feel strongly on this issue should
not register with the national scheme".
The Rev Tom Page, the rector of Chingford, and QS4 have now appealed to
the Court of Arches.
Church spokesmen declined to comment on the case, saying that it was sub
judice.