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Church 'should tackle knife crime'

06/07/2008

The Archbishop of York has hit back at critics of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and urged the Church of England to reach out to young people to tackle knife crime.

In his address to the General Synod, which meets this week in York, Dr John Sentamu made a plea on behalf of the Church's leader.

He attacked members of the Global Anglican Future Conference - a new organisation within the Church opposed to gay clergy – after the group criticised Dr Williams's leadership.

"It grieved me deeply to hear reports of the ungracious personalisation of the issues through the criticism and scapegoating of Williams. They describe a person I don't recognise as Rowan," Dr Sentamu said.

Dr Sentamu also urged the Church to tackle knife crime among the young. He said: "When crime involving the use of knives by young people is on the increase, we can stem the tide by our outreach to young people."

The Archbishop said he had recently met a young person at a Bringing Hope event in Birmingham.

"He said to me: 'What you must do is to get us, young people, to feel better about ourselves.

"'Help us to achieve confidence about ourselves without needing the dangerous prop of a knife. Help us not to judge ourselves in the eyes of others," the senior clergyman added.

The Church of England faces a crucial vote on Monday on the ordination of women bishops.

Last week, some 1,300 members of the clergy threatened to quit if the Church allowed female bishops. On the same day, over 2,000 other clergy came out in support of a female episcopate, leading to fears of a split in the Church.