UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society
Posted: Wed, 24 Feb 2016
The National Secular Society has warned that the Church’s inquiry into their handling of the Bishop Peter Ball sex abuse case could leave significant questions unanswered.
Bishop Ball was jailed last year for sexual offences, after escaping justice twenty years previously. A letter-writing campaign at the time saw support for the bishop come from senior establishment figures, including a member of the royal family.
The Church of England has now announced that an inquiry will look at the case to establish how much senior figures in the Church of England knew about Ball’s crimes.
However, the NSS has criticised the terms of reference of the Church of England’s review and warned that they do not go to the heart of the failures which contributed to Ball escaping justice for twenty years. In this period one victim committed suicide.
The review will establish “what information was available to the Church of England … concerning Peter Ball’s abuse of individuals; who had this information and when. To provide a detailed timeline and transparent account of the response within the Church of England. To consider whether the response was in accordance with recognised good practice, and compliant with Church of England policy and legislation as well as statutory policy and legislation.”
But the review into the case will be carried out behind closed doors. Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, warned that “while this may encourage greater frankness of those giving evidence, it will be regarded as lacking openness and transparency, qualities already shown to be sorely lacking in the Church over such matters even today.”
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