UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
Archbishop of Canterbury reveals how he broke down in tears after hearing ‘horror’ of child abuse in Church of England
By Tom McTague, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnline
The Archbishop of Canterbury has told how he broke down in tears after hearing first hand the ‘horror’ of child abuse in the Church of England.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said the sexual abuse in the Church was ‘beyond description – terrible’ and that he had been profoundly moved by his meetings with survivors.
He revealed that all Church of England clergy will be audited for signs they are abusers.
The Archbishop conceded that investigations into clergy going back more than 60 years would show that ‘there is more that has not been revealed’.
He said the harrowing accounts he heard at one face-to-face meeting with a victim still haunted him later in the day when he was asked about the issue at a talk at a theological college.
Speaking at a Westminster lunch this afternoon he said: ‘To my intense surprise, because I don’t normally do this kind of thing, I broke down completely.
‘It was the shredding effect of hearing what we did, what we did, to those people and the sense of total failure and betrayal.
‘So we are taking it, and I am passionate about this, as seriously as we are able to do.’
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