Riazat Butt has a Lambeth Diary in the Guardian. Today it is titled Group meetings to resolve conflicts mocked by bishops.
It also mentions the use of diplomatic passports by archbishops. Here’s some more background from Uganda. It’s an inter-faith issue as you can see.
Kampala Monitor Uganda: Religious Leaders Holding Diplomatic Passports Illegally
…Religious leaders who hold diplomatic passports include the Archbishop the Church Of Uganda, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, the Archbishop Of Seventh Day Adventist Church, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Uganda.
When contacted, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said; “I can’t comment on a matter which I have not heard. I will give a comment later.”
However, the Muslim Supreme Council Publicist, Hajji Nsereko Mutumba, defended the religious leaders’ right to possess diplomatic passports. “Did they get these passports through the window?
Religious leaders are sacred people. They are bigger than even ministers. They should hold these passports,” he said. Mr Kasaija, who was defending his Shs290 billion 2008/9 budget said Ugandan diplomatic passports have been abused by criminals who masquerade as diplomats.
He said officials who are supposed to access diplomatic passports include; government ministers and their spouses, foreign service officers, their spouses and children below the age of 18, the head of public service, the chief justice, justices of the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, chancellors and vice chancellors of public universities, the governor and deputy governor of Bank of Uganda, recognised traditional and cultural leaders, the speaker and deputy speaker of Parliament, permanent secretaries, chairpersons and vice chairpersons of permanent commissions…
Red Pepper State Probes Mufti, Orombi over Diplomatic Passports.
From the Red Pepper report: “Appearing before the Defense and Internals Affairs Committee of Parliament yesterday, Kasaija sweated plasma as he struggled to explain the circumstances under which the religious leaders obtained the diplomatic passports”
what a wonderfully repulsive image!
I suspect that the word ‘Diplomatic’ might be the real oxymoron here.