Carey attacks Welby for ‘unjust’ sacking
THE former archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at his “unjust” successor, the Most Rev Justin Welby, saying that he will be judged for sacking him over the way he dealt with a sex scandal.
In a Christmas letter to friends, Lord Carey of Clifton has spoken out for the first time about his treatment by Archbishop Welby, who “insisted” that he stand aside from his post in the Church over his handling of allegations against the former bishop Peter Ball.
The comments come days after Archbishop Welby was criticised over his handling of the sex assault allega- tions against George Bell, the former bishop of Chichester, whom he refused to clear despite an independent review concluding that he was besmirched by the Church of England.
Although it is understood that the comments by Lord Carey on his own treatment were written in November, they were not sent out until this weekend at the end of a turbulent week for the Church.
In the letter “Greetings from The Careys 2017”, seen by The Daily Telegraph, Lord Carey updates his friends about developments in the year. He writes: “Less desirable has been the
shocking insistence by the Archbishop that I should stand down from ministry ‘for a season’ for mistakes he believes were made 24 years ago when Bishop Peter Ball abused young potential priests. His decision is quite unjust and eventually will be judged as such.”
A spokesman for Lord Carey, 82, who was archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2012 and was succeeded by Lord Williams of Oystermouth, refused to comment on the criticism of the Archbishop in relation to the Bishop Bell case, over which he had previously called for a public inquiry. In a letter to Bishop Bell’s niece last year Lord Carey said that he was “frankly appalled by the way the Church authorities have treated his memory”.
A damning independent public inquiry by Lord Carlile last week found that the Church of England had “rushed to judgment” and destroyed the reputation of the respected bishop, naming him as a paedophile on the say-so of a single accuser almost 60 years after his death.
Archbishop Welby faced calls to apologise after issuing a statement in the wake of the report in which he pointed out Bishop Bell was “accused of great wickedness” and said sorry only “for the failures of the process”.
It comes just six months after Lord Carey was forced to stand down from his last formal role in the church as honorary assistant bishop in the diocese of Oxford in June after a separate inquiry criticised the Church’s handling of the Ball case.
The Archbishop took the unprecedented step of asking him to “carefully consider his position” after he was criticised for involvement in a cover-up of allegations of grooming and sex assault against Ball, who was later jailed for 32 months.
Lord Carey also uses his festive missive to lament the fact that they did not send a letter last year as “Mark, our son, had just been falsely accused of historic charges of abuse dating back nearly 40 years to when he himself was a young teenager. It was always ridiculous but it was a very painful and difficult time.” He noted that Mark, for whom it was a “cruel, brutal and humiliating” experience, has now been exonerated and installed as vicar of Christ Church, Bridlington. Despite his criticism of Archbishop Welby, Lord Carey concludes: “Just as well, then, that we are surrounded by a large and wonderful family who give us great support and pleasure.”
A spokesman for Lord Carey would only say that he “does not comment on private correspondence intended for friends”. A spokesman for Archbishop Welby added: “We would not comment on private correspondence, but the independent inquiry into Peter Ball’s case was quite strong in its recommendations.”