Church of England is institutionally racist

The Church of England is "institutionally racist", a damning internal report has concluded.

the Rt Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali: Church of England 'institutionally racist'
Rare seniority: the Rt Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali

Ethnic minorities are being marginalised in parishes and black and Asian clergy have little chance of reaching the Church's higher echelons, says the study, to be released this week.

It warns that too little has been done to tackle "institutional racism" - the phrase used to devastating effect by Sir William Macpherson, the former High Court judge, in his findings on the bungled police investigation into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The report, commissioned by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, is expected to spark a fierce debate at next month's General Synod in York. Delegates will be asked to examine the clergy's failure to "integrate and utilise" the gifts of ethnic minorities.

The report was drawn up by the 15-member Committee for Minority and Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC). The committee's chairman, the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, said that the existence of racism in wider society was not an excuse for it within the Church. Read more