Carey cast out

SIR – The Bishop of Bath and Wells (Letters, July 15) argues that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s treatment of his predecessor, Lord Carey, is a way of putting the victims of Peter Ball first.

This is rough justice. Lord Carey has acknowledged his failure of judgment over Peter Ball, but he acted with the advice of many senior people in the Church of England, including the then Bishop of Chichester, who was Peter Ball’s bishop. He believed what he was told and he has accepted his mistake.

Archbishop Welby’s judgment that Lord Carey, who has served the Church for 54 years, can no longer take services, give Communion or minister in any way in any church is not only a devastating punishment for Lord Carey; it suggests to the casual onlooker that he himself was a willing culprit in this child abuse scandal, which he was not.

Elaine Thomas London NW6