Time to leave: protest at Cathedral has ‘made its point’
Pictured is the Protest camp set up outside Sheffield Cathedral
THE DEAN of Sheffield Cathedral has called on anti-capitalist protesters camped outside the building to move on - and said they were ‘taking advantage of the good nature of the Church of England’.
Very Rev Peter Bradley, Dean of Sheffield, told The Star the Occupy Sheffield camp had ‘made its point’ and used his sermon yesterday to appeal to them to leave.
He said the camp’s presence was ‘severely affecting the ministry of the church’, taking up his time and that of other church officials who have had to meet protesters, deal with media enquiries and resolve health and safety issues.
Rev Bradley said the protesters were also deterring groups from renting space for events. The money is vital for the cathedral’s maintenance and running costs and funds the Archer Project which helps Sheffield’s homeless.
During the Eucharist service he was interrupted by an angry female protester, who swore at the clergy and accused them of ‘contradicting themselves’.
Mr Bradley told the congregation: “I call on the protest to move on so the Cathedral can be free to work with our whole community. The Occupy Sheffield protest has made its point. It is time for the protest to end.”
The Occupy movement set up a camp in Sheffield in November after similar protests on Wall Street, New York, and outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London, to protest against the ‘greed’ of bankers and Government austerity measures.
Tom Redfern, protest spokesman, said members wanted to be ‘good neighbours’ and would ‘accommodate the cathedral wherever possible’ adding he understood the Dean’s concerns but the issue ‘wasn’t going to be solved overnight’.
He also suggested protesters might move to an empty building in the city to continue their campaign.
Rev Bradley continued: “We are not clear why a protest about banking and the Government is taking up the time of the cathedral when, for the last 20 years, we have tried to provide a voice for vulnerable people through the Archer Project.
“I have every reason to suppose the protesters took to the site because they believed we would be unlikely to take court action against them. “The protest is taking advantage of the good nature of the Church of England.”
Mr Bradley said he had repeatedly urged protesters to leave - although he told them legal action was not planned.
He said: “The Cathedral is separate from the main part of the Church of England and we do not have access to their legal department. Like any charity we don’t seek legal confrontation but we would appeal to the protesters to go.”
After the sermon, churchgoers told The Star they supported the Dean’s stance.
Ashleigh Lamming, 22, who sings in the cathedral choir, said two of the last three services she had attended were interrupted by protesters.
“I’m sympathetic to the cause but they let themselves down,” said Ashleigh, who lives in Sheffield city centre.
“They probably have made their point and it’s right for the cathedral to say they should move on. It isn’t fair when they interrupt services.”
A 67-year-old churchgoer from Totley, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It’s very difficult but there comes a time when sometimes you’ve got to explain the reasons and ask them to move on.”
Another member of the congregation, a 73-year-old man, said: “I don’t understand what they’re trying to prove, I can’t see the point of it.”
He added the protesters were ‘alienating’ themselves by interrupting services, adding: “I don’t think they do themselves any favours - clearly they’ve got no control.”
A fellow parishioner said the protesters were leaving the cathedral forecourt in a ‘terrible state’.
“If they want respect they should give it,” she said.
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Comments
There are 70 comments to this article
Page 1 of 5
Jeremiah
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 01:27 PMThere's still more money wasted by poor administration than is claimed fraudlently, Serendipity. Sort the administration out and we'll spend less money on benefits. A decrease in tax avoidance wouldn't go amiss either, and neither would a decrease in the defence budget.
serendipity
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 06:17 PM#67: I agree with you that the bankers behaves irresponsibly in making loans to anybody and everybody who would snatch the money out of their hand, regardless of their ability to repay them, and they should have all been made to repay their bonuses before receiving any public money. However, money from the financial services industry kept this country afloat for 30 years after Thatcher decimated the manufacturung base. As fast as the money poured in, the politicians, especially Gordon 'the prudent chancellor' Brown, spent it so there was nothing left when the inevitable crash happened. The root cause of our woes is the massive benefits bill which has been draining money for decades and currently stands at £150billion a year and rising. You should be camping outside the benefits offices and protesting at the huge handouts to foreigners and fraudsters.
JoeMakesThings
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 10:37 PMJust to reiterate, the "angry female protester" mentioned in the article struggles with mental heath issues. In spite of this, the occupation has continued to offer her support. She speaks for herself, and knows hypocrisy when she sees it, but has anxiety problems and has outbursts because of it on a daily basis. She has left the occupation in the past due to problems, and has been back but still behaves difficultly. We could equally say that the violent drunks who fight outside the Cathedral are ambassadors and representatives of the Church of England, couldn't we? For the church to say that the 99% is taking up too much of their time is ironic.
Sheffpixie
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 10:07 PMserendipity: Our protest may seem pathetic to you but it is part of much wider protests around the world. There are over 1000 'occupies' going on in over 99 countries. The bankers you refer to care nothing about any of us, you included; they are not motivated by social considerations. I would be interested to hear your own views on these issues, which I notice you have consistently failed to offer.
serendipity
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 09:31 PM#63 Sheffpixie: I'm sure we're all aware of the mess the economy is in, but disfiguring a much loved part of the city centre is not achieving anything except turning something that was pleasing into something ugly and unpleasant. The bankers don't give a toss about your pathetic little protest; why don't you draw up a petition condemning their behaviour in lending huge amounts of money to people like the family that adopted Steve Martin in 'The Jerk', condemning the bonuses they paid themselves and condemning the politicians who let them get away with it. Knock on every door in every town and city and present it to Downing St. in a blaze of publicity. Then you might become the people's champions that you so smugly think you are now.
Wessex spanner monkey
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 09:09 PMPost #50 DeborahMahmoudieh. Crikey, I see all character limits on posting have now been removed, had to go for a cuppa half way through your sermon! Things are far from perfect at present, but I sincerely believe if it hadn't have been for Thatcher reining in the left and the unions during the 1980s, this country would now be in a worse state than Greece. The left are great at spending money (usually frittering it away with nothing to show afterwards), but rubbish at generating it. Even when they do manage to generate some, they spend more than they generate and hence always end up being kicked out of office leaving the country in debt, and then the evil nasty Tories have to come in and sort it out. If you really want to change this perpetual cycle, you need to stand for election and persaude enough people to vote for you. Camping out and shouting slogans in the streets will change nothing.
Ukip
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 08:04 PMSheff pixie. Harthill is supposed to be a posh place, but it looks like they have let some rif raf in. It proofs one thing money can't buy class.
Sheffpixie
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 07:21 PMSerendipity - sorry you appear more concerned about the aesthetics of the cathedral forecourt than the utter shambles our economy has been reduced to; the effect of which is likely to lead many more people into poverty. I do hope you won't be one of them. 1graybags - if you came to the camp you might be surprised to find a variety of people, many of whom work, some like me are retired and yes, some are unemployed. There's quite a wealth of experience too. harthillowl - your slightly less than eloquent post says it all really. No arguments to put forward then?
harthillowl
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 06:31 PMIts time to pXXs off now. You`ve achieved nothing, but make yourselves look and sound stupid, are any of you claiming hand outs or suppose to be looking for work whilst dossing around?? Get into the real world and get on with it. i bet the rich bankers and big business men are sleepless worrying about you lot. NOT
1graybags
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 06:14 PMyou happy campers are an irrelevant bunch of to55ers, a vocal minority, I look forward to you disappearing up your own backsides. Listening to you on TV and on previous BBC Sheffield website links makes me cringe, you are a joke, you know nothing about the real world and all this is just an ego trip. You think you are so clever and politically informed, but you have no feasible alternatives just ill-informed drivel . If the snow keeps falling I hope your jealousy of the successful members of society keeps you warm at night you bunch of bitter failures and right-on student goons.
serendipity
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 06:13 PMThe Cathedral forecourt is one of the pleasantest and most aesthetically pleasing parts of the city. Walking through it is a nice experience because it has an air of tranquility and even spirituality about it. Now the protestors have moved in, it has lost it's ambience and become an ugly and depressing place, so they need to stop being so selfish and self-indulgent and move on. They should find out where all these rich bankers live and camp in their gardens, because all they are achieving is ruining one of our havens from the hustle and bustle.
JoeMakesThings
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 05:49 PMThanks for the discussion everyone. Occupy Sheffield General Assembly is at 6:30pm every day. You all know where to find it by now. Another world is possible.
Sheffpixie
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 05:42 PMModerator: Please would you let my perfectly innocent post through. I promise not to make any reference, even euphemistically, to bodily parts in the future. I assume it was that, that is the problem? Propriety will be my watchword in the future.
JoeMakesThings
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 05:42 PM@PaulSheffield We shouldn't focus on past allegiances and divides. We should try and focus on future solutions and consensus. I don't like to hear anyone ranting about the Tories any more than I like to hear anyone rant about Labour. They can't change anything without the people. Occupy is set up as a place where we can all work on some possible solutions, agree on them, and take them forward. This happens in the city streets, or on forums, on comment sections in the press, via email, in the church. Everywhere. If the physical occupations are moved on, we could keep discussion going. Without the occupations to begin with, things just keep getting worse and everyone just lets it happen. To be fair to David Cameron, this is Big Society. We should just aim much higher than he thought.
PaulSheffield
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 05:28 PMJoe I get your point about the excesses in the .001% and I object to it too BUT the problem you have is as in post @50 Blaming anything Tory she can for the problems and COMPLETELY ignoring the BILLIONS upon BILLIONS wasted under Labour and the incredible unsustainable bloat of the Public Sector...... as Ivan quite correctly points out in his post I bet we did not here a PEEP from her during the Labour years when they were taking care of their own ....
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