Lord Carey Slams Archbishop Justin Welby over His Departure after Abuse Report
By Alex Williams
A former Archbishop of Canterbury has described pressure placed on him by Justin Welby to resign from his role as an honorary assistant bishop in Oxford as "shocking". Lord Carey accused his successor (pictured below) of "unjust" behaviour in urging him to consider relinquishing his position, following a report which criticised his response to sex abuse allegations.
Published in June, the independent report by Dame Moira Gibb concluded the 82-year-old received seven letters raising concerns about an abusive bishop but only passed one note to police. The report also said Lord Carey did not put Bishop Peter Ball's name onto a list of clergy whose behaviour had raised safeguarding concerns. Ball (pictured below), a former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was released from prison earlier this year after being jailed in 2015 for abusing 18 young men during a 15-year period.
Lord Carey, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 until 2002, resigned in June as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford, saying he "accepted the criticisms made of him". But, referring to the report's claim that his response "must give rise to a perception of deliberate concealment", Lord Carey also said any accusation of a cover up or collusion on his part were "wrong". In a Christmas letter addressed to friends and seen by the Guardian newspaper, he lamented the "shocking insistence by the archbishop that I should stand down from ministry..." Lambeth Palace denied to comment on the letter but added the Dame Moira Gibb report "spoke for itself".
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