Clergymen were more likely to be attacked than doctors, nurses and other care givers. Yet little has been done to train them in self-protection
LONDON - Being a priest may be the most dangerous profession in Britain, according to the first survey of its kind compiled for the Home Office.
Nearly three-quarters of priests in the south-east of England who responded to a questionnaire said they had been abused or assaulted in the past two years.
One in eight of them said they were physically attacked.
Six priests have been murdered since 1996, including two this year.
Although all the clergymen who responded were from the Church of England, the Guardian newspaper said yesterday that there was no indication the figures would be any different for any other Christian denomination.
The newspaper speculated that it may be higher for other religious groups because their priests minister more exclusively to congregations.
The results were from a report compiled by London's Royal Holloway University on Workplace Violence Affecting Professional Workers.
According to the British Crime Survey, a member of the clergy was on par with a policeman when it came to the risk of an attack but was way ahead of other caring professions such as doctors, nurses or probation officers.
An organisation, which was set up earlier this year to advise clergy of all denominations about security, has claimed there was a lack of training in self-protection for members of the cloth.
This was despite priests having to deal with a higher proportion of deranged, drunk and abusive people than other caring groups.
'Priests know the dangers, but they tend to be dismissed as a minor problem by those higher up the hierarchy. It is accepted as part of the job,' said Mr Nick Tolson, coordinator of National Churchwatch, which is funded by ecclesiastical insurance firms.
'Somehow, especially among older clergy, failure to cope with attacks is regarded as a sign of personal or professional weakness,' he added.
Eighty per cent of priests said
they had no guidelines from the church on dealing with violence.