Carey admits Church ‘mishandled’ sex abuse
Archbishop of Canterbury told disgraced Anglican colleague, ‘you are in my prayers’, inquiry hears
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted “fobbing off ” victims of sex abuse who had complained about the paedophile bishop Peter Ball after his first arrest in 1992. In an appearance before the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Lord Carey of Clifton – who was Archbishop from 1991 to 2002 – admitted the Church had “mishandled” the case but also argued that it was not its role to investigate crime. Ball, a former Bishop of Gloucester, was convicted and jailed in 2015.
A FORMER Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted “fobbing off” victims of sex abuse who had complained about a paedophile bishop.
Lord Carey of Clifton said Lambeth Palace failed to deal properly with letters from victims and their families after the arrest of Peter Ball in 1992.
Ball, then the bishop of Gloucester, was arrested following disclosures of sexual abuse from Neil Todd, a pupil on his scheme for young men considering a monastic life.
Some of the men and their parents told the Archbishop’s office that Ball had behaved inappropriately – he had asked a 17-year-old schoolboy to masturbate in front of him during a counselling session at boarding school and had asked another 17-year-old to share his bedroom.
In an extraordinary day at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Lord Carey was by turn contrite, apologising to Ball’s victims, and defiant, arguing it was not the church’s role to investigate his crimes.
Asked by Fiona Scolding, lead counsel to the inquiry into the Anglican church, why he did not disclose the letters to the police, he said: “No one came and said ‘hand the letters over’.” He added: “At the time we assumed the police were investigating this thoroughly. There was no awareness … that one had to pass these letters on, that one might have assumed today.”
Following his arrest Ball received a caution and resigned from his role but over the next five years was allowed to return to a position of influence in the Church, performing confirmations and gaining the status of a retired bishop.
He was convicted and jailed in 2015 for misconduct in public office after admitting abusing 18 young men. Mr Todd killed himself in 2012.
Lord Carey admitted the church had “mishandled” the case, after the inquiry heard evidence that letters to him had received “holding” responses and victims had to follow them up to gain a proper reply. “We have been fobbing people off,” he said. “They should have had direct replies. We should have carried on our inquiries and dealt with it in a much more serious manner.”
The inquiry also heard that Lord Carey sent a “personal message” to the diocese of Gloucester in January 1993, several weeks after the allegations had been made, hoping that the police inquiry would “clear his [Ball’s] name”.
He also wrote to the chief constable of Gloucestershire and the director of public prosecutions in 1993 on Ball’s behalf and to Ball himself, telling him “you are in my prayers”.
Lord Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, oversaw Ball’s return to ministry and payment of thousands of pounds from his own discretionary funds to support church leaders in need. He claimed he was manipulated by Ball, who was a “consummate actor”.
The inquiry heard Ball was made Bishop of Gloucester in 1993 after the late Robin Catford, the appointments secretary to the Prime Minister, wrote a glowing reference, citing he was a “squash blue” at Cambridge, had a “quite extraordinary personality” and was “loved and revered by everyone who crossed his path”.
Lord Carey said: “The secretary [Catford] was influencing the prime minister and going beyond his responsibilities.”
‘We should have carried on our inquiries and dealt with it in a much more serious manner’