14/01/2020
A statement from Bishop Peter Hancock, Church of England lead safeguarding bishop:
“The powerful BBC documentary Exposed: the Church’s Darkest Secret is a stark and important reminder of the serious sexual wrongdoing of Peter Ball against many young men, including Neil Todd who took his own life, and the complete failure of the Church to respond appropriately over a period of many years.
“Both the Gibb Report, An Abuse of Faith, commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 2018 IICSA hearing into the case, highlighted our failings and the bravery of those who were prepared to speak out. The documentary brings home in a graphic way the courage of the survivors who shared their story.
“It is a matter of great shame and regret that the Church did not act to address the behaviour of Peter Ball at the time and that survivors were left to fight tirelessly for justice.
“As a Church we are committed to implementing the recommendations in the Gibb Report and those from the IICSA report. But we are aware that for the survivors, it may feel that this is all too late.
“I know from my meetings with victims and survivors that the effects of abuse are lifelong and we must never forget this. We recognise that there are survivors who have never spoken out and who may still want to come forward; we would urge them to do so.
“There is much that is being written and said about accountability and the culture of deference in the Church and it is clear that change has been too slow. We are committed to making these changes and ensuring that the Church is a safe and welcoming place for everyone.
“I once again offer all survivors a wholehearted apology and applaud their bravery in coming forward which continues to hold us to account.
“Anyone affected should please contact Emily.denne@churchofengland.org at the National Safeguarding Team.“
OK…. So, at the February Synod in 2018 (if I remember correctly), Bishop Peter Hancock reported to Synod (in a report oddly impossible to find now on the CoE website, but news reports of the time will attest) that during the year 2016 alone, the Church of England received complaints of over 2500 cases of abuse (Hancock’s own original figure was over 3300, amended down to over 2500, apparently because in some cases, multiple complaints pertained to the same “case”), the majority against children, and approximately half of all complaints being of a sexual nature. Approximately 1/4 of complaints were specific to clergy. That is to say, over 600 complaints against clergy, with a substantial number of those complaints being child and or sexual abuse.
From an official point of view, it is as though that abuse is not happening, and the report itself is an hallucination on the part of those of us who were paying attention at the time.
So, here we are, two years later, the CoE is still focused entirely on a tiny number of historical cases, while the THOUSANDS of current cases remain without comment. How many of those 2016 cases have been referred to police for investigation? How many clergy and laity arrested? How many tried and convicted? How many bishops involved in covering them up? WHY is it so very difficult to find any sort of answer to such questions on the CoE website? Someone hoping that it will be forgotten while shifting the focus to dead perpetrators and retired episcopal obstructors of justice?
“But at least we the Church, haven’t embarrassed you by mentioning ‘Sin’, ‘Repentance’, or “Our grieving the Holy Spirit..”
As I have said many times before, when people in the Church don’t actually believe the basic doctrines of Christianity, why the Heck do they remain in it? Or is it the dressing up bit…?