UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent
Jonathan Wheeler
An inquiry by the Archbishop of Canterbury has shed further light on the scandal which lies at the heart of the Church of England diocese in Chichester.
Police investigations have uncovered further evidence of sexual crimes against children, which leaves the impression that a paedophile ring has been operating at the highest levels of the diocese for years.
One has to admire the courage of these children – now adults – who have come forward to report such crimes. They should, I hope, be galvanised by the Church’s response as it now seeks to deal with the mess it made of child protection.
Three new arrests of priests from the Chichester diocese this year have provided a backdrop to this historic inquiry – the first for 100 years – by the Archbishop. His report charts child protection failures and a “profoundly negative culture” and says that “fresh and disturbing” evidence keeps coming to the surface about the way abuse claims have been handled in the past. The Archbishop will now oversee all appointments and deal with safeguarding issues, effectively sidelining the diocese’s own efforts. Last May, Baroness Butler-Sloss was asked to produce a report on the growing crisis and she found a disturbing lack of understanding of the seriousness of child abuse which she felt might be reflected elsewhere.
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