UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
By KATE PICKLES FOR THE DAILY MAIL
The Archbishop of Canterbury issued an ‘unreserved and unequivocal’ apology yesterday on behalf of the Church of England after an investigation revealed that a former colleague was accused of abuse spanning decades.
John Smyth, who was chairman of the Iwerne Trust, a charity closely linked to the church which ran Christian holiday camps for public school children, has been accused of beating boys and young men severely.
The Church discovered the alleged abuse in 1982 but failed to report it to police, a Channel 4 News investigation found. Winchester College, where some of the alleged victims met Mr Smyth, was also aware of the allegations but did not alert police, it was reported.
A statement last night on behalf of the Archbishop said: ‘We recognise that many institutions fail catastrophically, but the Church is meant to hold itself to a far, far higher standard and we have failed terribly.
‘For that the Archbishop apologises unequivocally and unreservedly to all survivors.’
Approached on camera, Mr Smyth, a QC and part-time judge, said: ‘I’m not talking about what we did at all.’
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