{"id":19442,"date":"2023-09-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/?p=19442"},"modified":"2023-09-12T11:29:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T16:29:29","slug":"uk-home-secretary-tells-police-that-silent-prayer-is-not-a-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/uk-home-secretary-tells-police-that-silent-prayer-is-not-a-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"UK home secretary tells police that \u2018silent prayer\u2019 is not a crime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A senior British official has warned police officers in the country that the mere act of silently praying \u2014 a seemingly direct reference to recent pro-life demonstrations outside abortion clinics \u2014 is \u201cnot unlawful,\u201d a declaration that comes amid an ongoing and controversial debate about that practice in the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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UK home secretary tells police that \u2018silent prayer\u2019 is not a crime<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said in a letter to the chief constables of England and Wales this month<\/a> that it was \u201cworth remembering\u201d that \u201csilent prayer, in itself, is not unlawful.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, the secretary said, was an effort to remind police officers of \u201cthe importance of remaining impartial\u201d while carrying out law enforcement duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the document, she also cautioned against recent police behaviors such as \u201ctaking the knee\u201d during Black Lives Matter protests, embracing \u201chighly contested ideologies\u201d such as gender extremism and critical race theory, and \u201cfailing to take action\u201d of threats of violence made by transgender activists against women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The note about \u201csilent prayer\u201d appears to be a reference to what has become a protracted and politicized debate over pro-life activism carried out at abortion clinics throughout England. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the recent incidents involving praying Britons, last year a pro-life activist was arrested by police in Birmingham, West Midlands<\/a>, after police observed her \u201cstanding still and praying silently outside an abortion facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February a British priest was arrested<\/a> \u2014 also in Birmingham \u2014 for praying for free speech outside of a clinic after hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video captured in January of this year<\/a>, meanwhile, showed a similar incident in which a British man faced a fine for praying silently outside of an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British Parliament, meanwhile, in March passed legislation establishing 500-foot \u201cbuffer zones\u201d around abortion clinics<\/a> within which protesters cannot undertake any activity to influence \u201cany person\u2019s decision to access, provide, or facilitate the provision of abortion services,\u201d including silent prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her letter affirming the basic lawfulness of silent prayer, Braverman said she was \u201cconcerned that confidence in policing has been affected by perceptions that the police have in recent years been seen, on occasion, to be taking a political stance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home secretary expressed hope that police officers in England could adhere to \u201ca more careful approach\u201d of \u201ccommunity engagement,\u201d one that avoids \u201cthe trap of partisanship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know that when we all pull in the same direction, we can achieve the best outcomes for the public,\u201d she wrote, according to a Catholic News Agency report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the letter, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce \u2014 the woman arrested last year in Birmingham<\/p>\n\n\n\n

over her silent prayer \u2014 told the Alliance Defending Freedom<\/a> that she was \u201cdelighted to see the home secretary clarify to police that it is not a crime to pray inside your own mind.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a basic tenet of a free democracy,\u201d Vaughan-Spruce noted, though she acknowledged that she has \u201cbeen arrested twice for doing no more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A senior British official has warned police officers in the country that the mere act of silently praying \u2014 a seemingly direct reference to recent pro-life demonstrations outside abortion clinics \u2014 is \u201cnot unlawful,\u201d a declaration that comes amid an ongoing and controversial debate about that practice in the United Kingdom.  U.K. Home Secretary Suella […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK home secretary tells police that \u2018silent prayer\u2019 is not a crime -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"#iamTodaysCatholic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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