Has Believing the Victim Policy Sullied the Name of a Much-admired Bishop?

By Clifford Longley
The Tablet
February 17, 2016

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/905/0/has-believing-the-victim-policy-sullied-the-name-of-a-much-admired-bishop-


Church of England compensates alleged victim despite Bishop George Bell dying in 1958

Has Bishop George Bell – the Anglican Bishop of Chichester from 1929 to 1958, and one of the Church of England’s greatest figures - become a victim of the rule that people who complain of sexual abuse must always be believed? This principle was applied by police forces across the country in the wake of the Jimmy Savile affair, and has caused no end of problems. Now it has caused a major problem for the Church of England too, which has been accused of rubbishing the reputation of a good man and ignoring the presumption that someone accused of crime is innocent until proved guilty. Innocent may not be quite the right word, as the bishop is dead. But there is such a thing as the benefit of the doubt, and he should be given it.

On the basis of one complaint last autumn – about an alleged series of abusive episodes in the 1940s - the Church has formally apologised and paid compensation. In a statement, it implied not only that there were no reasons to disbelieve the victim, but that the allegations were actually true. It did not say why it thought so, and no further evidence has come to light.

Bishop Bell died in 1958, and has since become an iconic figure for his many brave interventions in public affairs not least for standing up to Winston Churchill to protest at the devastating bombing of German cities. He was also a key link with the plotters who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. If he really was a paedophile, as a headline in the

Daily Telegraph

branded him, then all that heroism counts for naught. He will have to be removed from the Church of England liturgical calendar of notable persons, an Anglican saint in effect, and anything named after him will have to be renamed. His name will for ever be remembered with shame. But is this fair? Many people do not think so...