Church of England’s reputation damaged by sexual abuse claims Tide may be turning in victims’ favor as more clergy show their support

La Croix International
February 13, 2018

https://international.la-croix.com/news/church-of-england-s-reputation-damaged-by-sexual-abuse-claims/6930

Calls for a “culture change” are growing as the Church of England now faces 3,300 sexual abuse claims, with one-fifth directed against clergy and other church officials.

Denial is no longer an option as recent inquiries highlight “the continuing need for a culture change within the church,” Roger Singleton, a member of the Anglican Church’s national safeguarding panel, told The Guardian.

He said a minority of parish clergy are either “unwilling to accept the need for sensible, proportionate measures” or seek to downplay the damage caused by physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual abuse. 

But while the church has been accused for decades of trying to bury its head in the sand mounting litigation is forcing a head-on collision with an avalanche of sexual abuse cases.

The Church of England has seen its spending in this area quintuple over the last four years. Next month it will go under the microscope again amid a stepped-up independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

“This will not be an easy couple of years — we will hear deeply painful accounts of abuse, of poor response, of ‘cover-up’,” the daily quoted Bishop Peter Hancock of Bath and Wells,  the Church of England’s lead bishop on safeguarding, as saying.

While 80 percent of the sexual abuse claims are reportedly aimed at volunteers and other congregation members, clergy are increasingly being urged to admit any wrongdoing by their peers. 

Reflecting the turning tide, each diocese has now appointed a professional adviser to safeguard against abuse.

Moreover, the archbishops of Canterbury and York recently showed their support for survivors of church sexual abuse by holding a two-minute vigil outside Church House in Westminster.