Diocese of Down & Dromore

St Donard's Parish Church in Bloomfield has been in the news recently because of vandalism done to the church building. Over the summer, young children have been climbing onto the roofs of the church and the halls, apparently for the sheer excitement of it, and using the roofs to slide down. They also had been throwing slates down from the roof, and damaged a window in the chancel. These are primary school kids, and they are endangering their lives.

The rector, The Revd Charles McCartney had great difficulty in getting help from the police, and decided to take a photograph of the children, so that they could be identified and the situation could be dealt with. This raised an issue with the police of whether the rector should not have taken a photograph and whether it could be used in evidence- an issue which sparked an important debate on a Talkback. The photographs, we gather, may now be used. Other churches in East Belfast have also been subjected to similar situations

Something about this situation resonated with ordinary people in the vicinity and in other parts of East Belfast, who have also experienced vandalism and intimidation from children, and the Bishop of Down and Dromore issued the following statement:

STATEMENT BY THE RT REVD HAROLD MILLER, BISHOP OF DOWN AND DROMORE

VANDALISM AT ST DONARD'S BLOOMFIELD

The recent incidents of vandalism at St Donard's, in which young people have endangered their own lives by climbing on and sliding down high roofs, has highlighted many important issues in the community of East Belfast. The rector, The Revd Charles Mc Cartney is to be congratulated for his courage and leadership in seeking to deal with some of these issues which are important for everybody as we build a positive society for the future.

Some of the issues are:

• The abuse of places of worship. This kind of vandalism has also happened in other places of worship. Sadly, we are all responsible for creating a world where spiritual values have not been passed on to many children, and the church needs to work creatively with the government and local community in making the Christian faith real to a whole generation of the people who find themselves distanced from the church.

• The inadequacy of community policing. For whatever reason, the story of policing this past week at St Donard's is the all-too-common cry of ordinary citizens in their own homes and lives: The lack of visibility of police on the streets, the difficulty in getting hold of police in the community, the slow response in situations which means that it is too late to catch those who are committing the crime, and the perceived response, ‘There's nothing we can do'.

• The lack of common sense. We understand the potential dangers of photographing children in a child protection context.  However it is amazing that someone might be criticized for taking photos, for evidence purposes of those who are both committing a crime and endangering their lives.  It would be an unbearable world if people simply had to grin and bear it, and were not able to be sensibly proactive in seeking to resolve such situations. This seems to have been recognized this past week, and I am grateful for that.

I have visited the Select Vestry of the parish, and found them both in good heart and thoroughly Christian in their response. The people of St Donard's have been praying for those children, and will continue to do so. The story of this church building is a symbol of what is happening in our society, and a salutary reminder that no cohesive society can exist without strong family life, moral values, and a faith-dimension. We as a church commit ourselves to increasingly playing our part in developing these along with others in the community.