“Following the excoriation of the Church hierarchy by Professor David Jasper DD FRSE, it makes me wonder whether or not action should be taken on the basis of ‘institutional abuse’”
Richard W. Symonds – The Bell Society
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Scottish Episcopal Institute Journal – Spring 2021
Page 31
“In the Christian year as celebrated in the Church of England, 3 October is dedicated to the remembrance of ‘George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker’…”
Page 32
“The Times put it quite simply: ‘Eminent bishop was a paedophile, admits Church’. The background to this extraordinary, and actually incorrect, statement was this…”
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“In his statement in October 2015, Warner…’the scrutiny of the allegations has been thorough, objective and undertaken by people who command the respect of all parties’…”
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“‘…balance of probability’. Lawyers know what that means, but when institutional fear and public appetite for scandal are strong factors, there seems to be little patience for the necessary verbal niceties of the law. They are there to protect all of us. Bell was, in effect and in spite of the Bishop of Durham’s statement in the House of Lords, pronounced guilty before his innocence was securely disproved…Lord Carlile’s report was…utterly dismissive of the original diocesan investigation, describing it as ‘indefensibly wrong'”
Page 35
“Carlile concludes…’for Bishop Bell’s reputation to be catastrophically affected …was just wrong. In spite of this the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, continued to reject the clear presumption of innocence as demonstrated by Carlile, commenting instead that a ‘significant cloud’ remained over Bell’s name….Nothing that would stand scrutiny in a court of law has been found against Bell…”
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“George Bell Group…conclusion reads: ‘…Bishop Bell’s reputation is today vindicated and affirmed by authoritative opinion. What remains of the story is only a matter of contemporary church politics’. But this last matter remains with us today…As long as there is any hint that anyone is to be found guilty. or suffer the destruction of character…before their innocence or guilt have been established by the due and unprejudiced processes of law, then none of us is safe”.
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“In a statement of 1 February 2019…Lord Carlile wrote: ‘The Church should now accept that my recommendations should be accepted in full, and that after due process, however delayed, George Bell should be declared by the Church to be innocent of the allegations made against him’. So far, it appears, the Church of England has failed to find the moral courage…to make this declaration of his innocence. It belittles us all”.
COMMENTS
You may have seen a recent letter to the Church Times...about the case of the Revd John Roberts in Woolton. Liverpool…But it was Justin Welby’s behaviour when John Roberts was ‘helping’ at the cathedral that really struck us. In that situation, Welby sided with a convicted abuser against a genuine complainant. Clearly, he has very poor judgement on occasion, as was abundantly shown later by his ‘significant cloud’ comment. Private Eye has covered the case to some extent but, so far, Welby has largely escaped as far as the national press is concerned. At the time of IICSA, the John Roberts case was going through the courts, so there are only veiled references to it in their reports. Liverpool diocese is undertaking a review of the case, so we shall see if that says anything much about Welby’s involvement.
‘M’ – 21/03/2021
It brings it all back, doesn’t it? I don’t think my anger and disgust will ever go away and my regard for the Church of England which was low anyway has pretty well gone…
‘J’ – 20/03/2021
Thank you for sending me this article by David Jasper. Whilst its contents will be familiar to those of us concerned for Bishop Bell’s reputation, it brings the necessary material together for a wider readership. I wonder whether copies of it have gone to Welby and Warner, though in the case of the former it would probably be intercepted by his staff and kept from his sight, and Warner remains obdurate in his refusal to admit his errors and those of the group which tried to trash Bell’s reputation. After the Carlile Report, an honourable man would have apologized and at least have offered his resignation. It was suggested to me that Warner’s chief concern is protecting his safeguarding team from all blame. I do not know whether this is so, but it is a black day for the Church when matters of truth and justice take second place to defending diocesan functionaries.
I also wonder whether a copy of the Jasper article has gone to the Church Times – not that I have much faith in the paper to concern itself with the Bell case. I believe several letters have been written to the Editor on this matter, including one from me, none of which has been published.
However, the important thing is that Welby and Warner must by now be aware that Bell’s defender’s are not going to “put up and shut up”. Warner, in particular, appears oblivious to the fact that it is his own reputation, and that of the diocese and the Cathedral, which are now in the gutter.
‘B’ – 20/03/2021
The Bell Society 