Failure of Church to safeguard abuse victims revealed in report
The CoE’s house not yet in order
A DAMNING report on the Church of England’s failure to safeguard victims and survivors of sexual abuse released yesterday was described by officials as “shocking” and “shameful”.
Senior members of the Church, ministers and officials from charities and legal agencies joined forces to condemn the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse ( IICSA) report, which highlighted instances where convicted child sex offenders had been ordained despite their criminal record.
Bishop of Huddersfield Jonathan Gibbs, who is lead safeguarding bishop for the Church of England, expressed shame in reponse to the report, saying that lessons “must be learned”.
The Rt Revd Gibbs along with Melissa Caslake, the Church’s national director of safeguarding, said that while apologies could never “take away the effects of abuse on victims and survivors”, they wanted “to express our shame about the events that have made those apologies necessary”.
In a written statement to Parliament, Home Secretary Priti Patel paid tribute to “the strength and courage” of victims who partook in the inquiry.
Ms Patel said: “Government will review this report and consider how to respond to its content in due course.
“I would like to thank Professor Jay and her panel for their continued work to uncover the truth, expose what went wrong in the past and to learn the lessons for the future.”
Child protection charity NSPCC meanwhile described the report as “deeply troubling”. Anna Edmundson, from the charity, said: “We know child abuse can be prevented but it requires organisations to step up and take responsibility.
“The Anglican Church must commit to and follow through with independent management of all safeguarding concerns and full accountability. Its top priority must be ensuring children who come through their doors are protected .”
Richard Scorer, lead lawyer for Slater and Gordon representing 20 survivors of abuse at the inquiry, said the Church was still failing victims despite “decades of scandal and endless promises”.
“Bishops have too much power and too little accountability,” Mr Scorer said.
THE CHURCH of England spent decades failing to protect some children and young people from sexual predators, preferring instead to protect its own reputation, a damning report has found.
The Church was accused of being “in direct conflict” with its moral purpose of providing “care and love for the innocent and the vulnerable” by failing to take abuse allegations seriously, neglecting the “physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing” of the young, and creating a culture where abusers were able to “hide”.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s ( IICSA) report into the Anglican Church also found examples of clergymen being ordained despite a history of child sexual offences.
Bishop of Huddersfield Jonathan Gibbs, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, and Melissa Caslake, the Church’s national director of safeguarding, said: “The report makes shocking reading and, while apologies will never take away the effects of abuse on victims and survivors, we today want to express our shame about the events that have made those apologies necessary.
“The whole Church must learn lessons from this inquiry.”
The inquiry heard that, from the 1940s to 2018, 390 people who were either members of the clergy or in positions of trust associated with the Church had been convicted of sexual offences against children.
The report found that, in many of those cases, the Church of England failed to take the abuse seriously, and alleged perpetrators were “given more support than victims, who often faced barriers to reporting ( abuse) they simply couldn’t overcome”.
It cited the case of the late Robert Waddington, who was Dean of Manchester Cathedral between 1984 and 1993, and died of cancer in 2007 amid a flurry of abuse allegations dating back more than half a century.
The inquiry heard that a “serious allegation” was made to the then- Archbishop of York David ( now Lord) Hope in 1999 about Waddington, but the Archbishop said there was “simply no possibility” of the suspect acting in this way.
The Archbishop was said to have not sought further information, instead meeting with Waddington, who continued to officiate in the Diocese of York.
In December 2004, Archbishop Hope wrote to Waddington stating that he was “very pleased to note the matter is now closed”, the inquiry heard.
The report also refers to the case of the Rev Ian Hughes, from Merseyside, who was convicted in 2014 for downloading 8,000 indecent images of children.
Bishop of Chester Peter Forster, who retired last year, suggested to the inquiry that Hughes had been “misled into viewing child pornography” on the basis that pornography is “so ubiquitously available and viewed”.
In an open letter ahead of the report publication, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York apologised to survivors, saying they were “truly sorry for the shameful way the Church has acted” against those who have suffered.
Inquiry chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay said: “Over many decades, the Church of England failed to protect children and young people from sexual abusers, instead facilitating a culture where perpetrators could hide and victims faced barriers to disclosure that many could not overcome.”
The IICSA was set up in 2015 and has investigated the actions of celebrities, politicians, police, religious groups and schools.
The whole Church must learn lessons from this inquiry.
Bishop of Huddersfield Jonathan Gibbs.
IT IS a small mercy that the Church of England’s outlook today is different to the organisation that previously placed its own reputation before the needs of young and vulnerable people sexually abused by clergy.
Many of the deeply distressing occurrences chronicled by The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuses, including clergymen ordained despite a propensity for paedophilia, are historic and reflect badly on the CoE’s complacent leadership in the past. Regrettably, this includes David Hope, a once distinguished former Archbishop of York, who failed to report grotesque allegations made against the late Robert Waddington, Dean of Manchester Cathedral between 1984 and 1993, to the police.
In December 2004, Archbishop Hope wrote to Waddington stating that he was “very pleased to note the matter is now closed” – prima facie evidence of the Church choosing to be judge and jury on its own clerics.
Yet, while the incumbent Archbishops of Canterbury and York have both made “an absolute commitment” this week to make the Church “a safer place” for all, this work is incomplete and apologies won’t suffice. This is self- evident from the response of Jonathan Gibbs, the Bishop of Huddersfield and CoE’s lead safeguarding bishop, over safeguarding and how the Church is “committed to looking at how best to implement greater independent oversight” of its protocols.
It is the phrase ‘ looking at how best’ that will exercise many. The Church has had years to get its house in order and far greater urgency is needed at a time when the issue of trust has never been more important in all walks of life.