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Lord Carey defends Christian Concern

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Baron Carey of Clifton, has defended Christian Concern, the controversial Christian group, after Trinity College apologised for hosting the group over the Easter vac. 
 
In a letter to Sir Ivor Roberts, the President of Trinity, Lord Carey criticised the college for acting intolerantly towards Christian groups. The letter comes following Sir Ivor’s apology to Trinity students in April after the college hosted the annual ‘Wilberforce Academy’, run by the Christian Concern religious group.
 
Lord Carey opined in his letter, “Christian Concern is not an extreme organisation that opposes diversity or equality.”
 
He added “Respect, tolerance and understanding are required so that minorities do not face discrimination. Ironically, your statement seems to withdraw that tolerance from Christian groups.”
 
Christian Concern has been branded ‘homophobic’ by students due to its opposition on a range of gay rights issues.
 
In April, in the face of student opposition, Trinity’s President Sir Ivor Roberts apologised for having hosted Christian Concern, stating, “Trinity regrets that any current or old members were upset by the fact that we gave houseroom unwittingly to Christian Concern.” 
 
The apology was supported and welcomed by students, with undergraduate Crawford Jamieson commenting, “LGBTQ students within Trinity College certainly felt, and quite rightly, that the presence of Christian Concern within the college was a slap in the face.” 
 
At the time, Josh Peppiatt, President of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union said, “The OICCU’s objective is to give every student in Oxford University an opportunity to hear and respond to the Christian message. As such, as the OICCU, we hold no official position on this issue.”
 
Christian Concern also provoked controversy in 2012 when it held a similar conference in Exeter College. Exeter subsequently apologised for hosting the conference and donated all profits made from it to LGBTQ causes. 
 
Trinity College has since followed Exeter’s example, donating profits garnered from Christian Concern’s conference to various charities. Trinity’s MCR tweeted, “As per Sir Ivor’s statement that College would donate £££ from Christian Concern conf, Trinity has donated £1900 to Terrence Higgins Trust.”
 
The Terrence Higgins Trust is a charity which aims to reduce the spread of HIV and promote good sexual health, including safe sex.
 
One Trinity student told Cherwell, “I and a lot of other students were horrified and embarrassed to discover Trinity hosted Christian Concern, and I think Sir Ivor absolutely did the right thing by apologising.
 
“I strongly disagree with Lord Carey’s accusations  by standing against Christian Concern, Trinity stood against bigotry and hate.”
 
Neither Trinity College nor Christian Concern was available for comment.

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