Conger

The Church in Wales has provisionally backed the “One Wales” manifesto drawn up by the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition government, but has pressed for a greater voice for the Church in Wales’ future.

The devolution of power from Westminster to the Welsh Assembly has upset the region’s traditional political order, with the Church in Wales anxious not to be left out in the creation of new structures and policies.

One Wales calls for a referendum before 2011 on devolving authority over health, education and transport to the Welsh Assembly from Westminster, giving it powers akin to the Scottish Parliament.

On Dec 14 the bishops applauded the government’s hopes of transforming Wales into a “self-confident, prosperous, healthy nation and society which is fair to all.” They also expressed their “willingness to engage with the Assembly Government’s plans,” and to offer its support “for that challenging but vitally important task.”

However, the bishops pointed out the Assembly’s plan for revitalizing Welsh society paid scant attention to religion. “We note that the contribution of faith communities is only referred to once” in the Assembly’s plans. “We feel this takes insufficient account of the contribution of different faith communities and particularly the Church in Wales.”

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, stated “As a Wales wide organisation embedded in local communities across Wales we share the strategic commitment of One Wales and the desire to engage with local communities in ways that bring greater health, wellbeing, prosperity and social cohesion.”

“We have a parish in every community in Wales with literally thousands of people of all ages involved in different kinds of community activity,” he said, adding that the Church in Wales was involved in almost all aspects of community life.

It was important that the church’s voice be heard, and he looked forward to its “developing common ideas and joint initiatives in the course of this new government’s term of office and to contributing to the debates on legislation and policy in the Assembly.”

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.