UNITED KINGDOM
ITV
[with video]
In 1986 ITV screened a documentary about a bishop heralded as one of the most spiritual and loving figures in the Church of England.
His name was Peter Ball.
At the time it was viewed as a fascinating insight into the work of Bishop of Lewes, who was running a retreat for spiritually curious young people, some of them aspiring priests.
I watched it again today.
Nearly 30 years on, it has a chilling quality.
In the opening minute of the programme Peter Ball tells his spellbound young audience, who have signed up to “give a year to Christ”:
VERY FAR from that, as one victim knows only too well.
He wanted to be identified but cannot be because of a court order imposed at the Old Bailey today.
We will call him Peter.
He was a teenager worshipping at a church in Eastbourne when the abuse began.
It lasted over a number of years. It was highly manipulative now I look back. But it was deeply confusing for me as a public schoolboy taught in the 1970s to respect authority and not question things.
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