Lord Carey Criticised by Damning Report Which Finds Church "Colluded" with Disgraced Bishop Peter Ball to Cover up Sex Offences
By Olivia Rudgard
Justin Welby has asked a former Archbishop of Canterbury to step down from his current role after a report found that he and other senior figures in the Church of England “colluded” with a disgraced paedophile bishop to prevent him facing criminal charges. George Carey, currently an honorary Assistant Bishop in the diocese of Oxford, has been urged to "carefully consider his position" by Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury. A damning report by former social worker Dame Moira Gibb, the result of an 18-month long enquiry, found that the Church of England had failed to protect the victims of Peter Ball, who abused 18 vulnerable men and boys over a 20-year period. Ball, a former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester, was jailed in October 2015 for indecent assault and misconduct in public office. He was released from prison earlier this year. He had initially been investigated by police in 1993 after Neil Todd, a young man who had stayed with him, told Church figures there had been "sexual activity" between the two. Mr Todd killed himself in 2012. That investigation ended when Ball accepted a caution for gross indecency and resigned as Bishop of Gloucester.
The report, published on Thursday, found that Lord Carey, then the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to Ball's twin brother, Bishop Michael Ball, in 1993, after the caution, saying he believed Ball was "basically innocent". At that stage Lord Carey was already aware of six letters which had been sent to Lambeth Palace by members of the public, making further allegations about Ball's behaviour. These included parents who said their children had been sexually propositioned by Ball and a man who said he had been asked to masturbate in front of him at the age of 15. The letters were never passed on to police. Following the caution Ball retired to a rented cottage on the Prince of Wales' Duchy of Cornwall estate and started to draw a pension. The report also criticises the "unusual degree of financial support from the Church" that he received in retirement, authorised by Lord Carey. He was also allowed him to carry out services including baptisms and confirmations, as well as speaking at 17 public schools, some until as late as 2007, the report said, a decision in which Lord Carey "played the lead role". The former Archbishop also decided not to add him to the "Lambeth List", which identifies clergyman about whom there are questions as to their suitability for ministry. Ball was convicted of the offences after a renewed investigation into his actions was opened in 2012 following a review of past cases by Dr Rowan Williams, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002.
The report said Lord Carey "set the tone for the Church's response to Ball's crimes and gave the steer which allowed Ball's assertions that the was innocent to gain credence". In a statement, Lord Carey said the report "makes deeply uncomfortable reading" and apologised to Ball's victims. He added: "I believed Peter Ball's protestations and gave too little credence to the vulnerable young men and boys behind these allegations". In a statement the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has written to Lord Carey and asked him to carefully consider his position as honorary Assistant Bishop. "As I hold responsibility for granting him a licence to enable him to carry out his duties, Archbishop Justin has asked Lord Carey to talk to me and we have agreed to meet in the coming days for that conversation. "In the meantime he has voluntarily agreed to step back from public ministry.” Victims called for the former Archbishop to face criminal proceedings. Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who represents a number of Ball's victims, said: “Given what’s in the report, there is now a clear case for the police and CPS to consider criminal charges against senior figures, including Lord Carey, for offences of misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. “This report bears out our clients’ complaint that the Church of England deliberately concealed evidence of Ball’s criminality, and they are appalled by the true extent of collusion in abuse.” In a foreword to the report, Dame Moira Gibb said: "Ball's priority was to protect and promote himself and he maligned the abused. The Church colluded with that rather than seeking to help those he had harmed, or assuring itself of the safety of others." Archbishop Justin Welby said the report, titled Abuses of Faith, made "harrowing reading". "The Church colluded and concealed rather than seeking to help those who were brave enough to come forward," he said.
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