Aaqil Ahmed, BBC head of religion and ethics, said viewers who criticised Songs Of Praise filmed in The Jungle camp didn't understand ‘compassion’ as a core Christian value

The BBC only came under fire for broadcasting Songs of Praise from the Calais ‘Jungle’ because Britons lack ‘religious literacy’, one of its senior bosses has claimed.

Aaqil Ahmed, the broadcaster’s head of religion and ethics, said viewers who criticised the programme failed to understand that ‘compassion’ is a core Christian value.

‘Changes to Songs of Praise have made it a multi-denominational weekly, reflecting the changes within Christianity in the UK,’ he wrote.

‘This was seen recently in its visit to the notorious migrant camp “The Jungle” in Calais.

‘Religious literacy is so poor that many didn’t understand why Songs of Praise would be there, but compassion for the vulnerable is at the core of Christianity.’

The BBC broadcast the flagship show last summer from a make-shift Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Calais migrant camp, made out of corrugated iron and tarpaulin.

Mr Ahmed’s comments will infuriate MPs and viewers who lambasted the BBC for wading into the migrant crisis.

Angry viewers felt the programme had been used as a political statement, and did not include enough hymns.

There was no singing from the migrant camp. Instead, footage of the ramshackle church was interspersed with ‘worship songs’ sung by sedate English congregations and African Pentecostalists, all miles away from Calais.

It began filming as public fury over the migrant crisis reached boiling point last August, putting the Government under unprecedented pressure to close the country’s borders to illegal immigrants.

Nine people had already died after thousands of migrants stormed the Channel Tunnel in a desperate attempt to build a new life in Britain.

But the BBC still shone a spotlight on the hordes of migrants, including worshippers who admitted that they had tried to enter the country illegally.

The programme also sparked fear amongst the church’s worshippers, many of whom had fled from religious persecution in Eritrea.

One of the church’s priests launched a furious attack on the BBC, saying that he feared the footage would be seen in his home country and would put him and his family in fresh danger.

The BBC broadcast flagship show Songs Of Praise last summer from a make-shift Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Calais migrant camp, made out of corrugated iron and tarpaulin

Angry viewers felt the programme had been used as a political statement, and did not include enough hymns,

Hagos Kesete said: ‘Our government sees us on camera and maybe our family have a problem…I have fear inside. I am not happy to speak on video.’

However, Mr Ahmed appeared to brush those concerns aside in his blog, published on the website Open Democracy.

Almost a century of ‘post-Christian Europe’ and decades of drift into secularism have created a society with poor religious literacy Aaqil Ahmed

He argued that Britain’s ‘religious literacy’ has become worse and worse in recent decades, and that it is the BBC’s job to address this to make sure people’s prejudices to ‘kick in’.

‘Almost a century of ‘post-Christian Europe’ and decades of drift into secularism have created a society with poor religious literacy. Whilst this may not have mattered in the past it certainly does now.

‘Across all groups in society very few people know about each other’s beliefs, values and customs. Into this vacuum it’s possible to say anything and for prejudice to kick in. Given what a lack of religious literacy in a time of demographic change could mean, it is vital that we get this subject right today and plan for the future,’ he said.

Mr Ahmed is no stranger to controversy. His appointment in 2009 sparked a row, as he became the BBC’s first ever Muslim head of religious programming.

Senior figures in the Church of England said it was a ‘worrying’ development, which could lead to the Christian voice being side lined.