THE Church must “reclaim both the flag and the faith” from the far Right, the Bishop of Kirkstall, the Rt Revd Arun Arora, has said.

Bishop Arora, who is a co-lead bishop for racial justice, made the comments during a sermon preached at a licensing service in St James’s, Manston, in east Leeds. It is one mile away from the Britannia Hotel, in the Seacroft suburb of Leeds, where there have been weekly protests against asylum-seekers housed there.

Bishop Arora said that the message of God’s love needed to be heard afresh, “especially at a time when, in our city and in our nation, the language of exclusion and division is on the rise” and when “whole groups of people are being labelled as unwelcome, unwanted, uninvited. The rising toxic tide of racism — the sin of racism — and its impact is being felt both in this city and all over the country.”

Some of those in the Britannia Hotel were “Christians who worship at our churches here in Leeds”, he said. One of them had recently been set upon by three men “who beat him, punched him, and broke his tooth”.

“Such incidents have followed weeks of hotel protests and flag-flying with barely concealed racist overtones,” Bishop Arora said. “Sentiments that even five years ago would have been considered shameful are now being broadcast at public gatherings, accompanied by cheers and applause. Such sentiments have been accompanied by reckless voices of hate seeking to camouflage themselves in the language of patriotism and faith, all the while debasing both.

“The time has come for us as a Church to reclaim both the flag and the faith that is being desecrated by those who would use both to divide us as a nation.

“Our overriding duty as the Church — to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbour as ourselves — requires us to stand firm in a faith rooted in the common good that recognises the face of God in all those we are called to serve.”