Archbishop criticised for ‘dangerous’ paedophile claim
LEADING historians have accused the Archbishop of Canterbury of shaming his office with “irresponsible and dangerous” claims that a former bishop may have been a paedophile.
In a letter to the Most Rev Justin Welby, seven academics who examined the allegations against George Bell, the former bishop of Chichester, said there was “no credible evidence” that he sexually abused a young girl.
A report last year found the Church of England unnecessarily besmirched the character of Bell, who died in 1958, when naming him publicly in an apology to his accuser in 2015.
The signatories – Professors Sir Ian Kershaw, Charmian Brinson, Andrew Chandler, John Charmley, Michael J Hughes, Jeremy Noakes and Keith Robbins – called for the Archbishop to retract his comments.
They stated: “None of us may be considered natural critics of an Archbishop of Canterbury. But we must also draw a firm line. The statement of Dec 15 2017 seems to us both irresponsible and dangerous. We therefore urge you, in all sincerity, to repudiate what you have said before more damage is done and thus to restore the esteem in which the high, historic office to which you have been called has been held.”
Before the allegations were made public, Bell had been a theologian held in high regard for his work helping victims of Nazi persecution. But following
an independent review by Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Archbishop said Bell was “accused of great wickedness” and apologised only “for the failures of the process”. The historians said they wished “to express our profound dismay with the position you have taken”.
They said Bell was a “significant historical figure” central to their careers and their view therefore constituted “a genuine and pertinent authority”.
The Archbishop’s statement “offended basic values and principles of historical understanding”, they said, as it assumed a single allegation against Bell had been proven when it had not.
“The allegation is not only wholly uncorroborated but is contradicted by all the considerable, and available, circumstantial material which any historian would consider credible,” they wrote. The letter, delivered yesterday, continued: “We cannot understand how such an unsupported, indeed insupportable, allegation can be upheld by a responsible public authority. Quite simply, it is indefensible.” The Archbishop had noted that Lord Carlile did not decide on guilt, but the academics pointed out that he was deliberately prevented from doing so by the terms of reference that had been set out by the Church.
“We state our position bluntly,” they continued. “There is no credible evidence at all that Bishop Bell was a paedophile. We state this after reviewing all that is known about his character and behaviour over many years.”
They concluded that he had been “impugned from within his own Church of England”, adding: “There is today no cloud at all over Bishop Bell. Nobody employing credible critical method could think otherwise.”
The Archbishop’s response to the allegations against Bell has already led to calls from members of the late bishop’s family for him to resign, and resulted in criticism from Lord Carey, his predecessor.
Lambeth Palace did not respond to a request for comment.