Peter Ball

Lord Lexden: “My faith in the Church’s institutional integrity has been completely broken”

September 18, 2021
Archbishop Cranmer
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Lord Lexden has resigned as a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee (the Church of England in Parliament), over the Clergy Discipline Measure and "the harm it is capable of inflicting on innocent clergy". He specifically mentioned the suicide of his…

bullying church of england priest suicide

The immoral, scandalous and disgraceful nature of CofE bullying

July 22, 2021
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'Immoral, scandalous or disgraceful' is a phrase from the Statutes of Christ Church, Oxford: it describes behaviour warranting disciplinary action being undertaken within that institution, but it is also an…

Christ Church Oxford Trustees Charity Commission Dean Martyn Percy

Christ Church Oxford Trustees could be personally liable for £85K each

February 8, 2021
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Followers of the Dean Martyn Percy story will recognise it as a tragedy not only for the individuals concerned, but also for Christ Church Oxford and the Church of England.…

The Church of England – a safer space for abusers than for the abused

October 7, 2020
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The long awaited IICSA report into 70 years of sexual abuse, cover-up and neglect of victims in the Church of England has finally been published. It has been followed by…

Stephen Cottrell Archbishop York safeguarding George Carey

Cottrell and Carey: why is some safeguarding secret, while others are thrown to the media?

June 30, 2020
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It was announced yesterday that the Rt Rev'd Stephen Cottrell, who next week is to be formally installed as the 98th Archbishop of York, had been investigated over a past…

Safeguarding: the Church of England’s house is slowly being rebuilt

February 11, 2020
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On 25th November 2015 the newly elected General Synod of the Church of England gathered to worship together with HM The Queen before she inaugurated the first sitting of its…

Jonathan Fletcher presents the Church of England with a crisis of integrity

January 2, 2020
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On Boxing Day the nation was entertained on a bi-partisan basis by the tragi-comic story of Jolyon Maugham QC and his vulpine intruder. It will take some of us a…

Nobody knows Nobody’s Friends

August 26, 2019
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People of a certain age might remember that the motorcycle patrolmen of the Automobile Association was once a common sight on British roads. Members sported badges on the fronts of…

Rev Jonathan Fletcher Emmanuel Church Wimbledon

Rev’d Jonathan Fletcher: CofE and GAFCON co-operate to manage risk to the vulnerable

June 28, 2019
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The weeks leading up to General Synod were never going to be a happy time for the Church of England. Anyone in touch with the survivors of Anglican abuse across…

Child sexual abuse: the Blackburn Pastoral Letter is game-changer for the Church of England

June 21, 2019
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When St Paul began writing his letters I doubt he expected them to become as copied, shared, dissected and analysed as they are today. He wrote to help and support…

Emotional abuse in the Church: Bishops need psychological help

March 8, 2019
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There is a Jewish proverb that a good name is worth more than precious stones. In this reflective and penitential season of Lent, members of the Church of England House…

Iwerne David Conner Dean Windsor John Smyth

Iwerne: what did David Conner (now Dean of Windsor) and others know about John Smyth’s regime of abuse?

November 6, 2018
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Many years ago, I worked as a duty solicitor, undertaking day and night visits to the local police stations. There were not many on the rota and it was a…

Lord Carey challenges Bishops to break their silence on the ‘significant cloud’ hanging over the name of Bishop George Bell

October 5, 2018
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Lord Carey spoke at the 'Rebuilding Bridges Conference' at Church House today, which aims to restore the name and reputation of Bishop George Bell. This is his speech, reproduced in…

CofE clergyman tells suicidal sex-abuse victim to “crawl back under a stone”, and that he “probably enjoyed” it

August 20, 2018
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Surprising as it may seem, the wave of comment following the death of former Iwerne Chairman and serial abuser John Smyth very nearly wasn't the worse news for the Church…

John Smyth dies – just as the CPS gives police go-ahead for his extradition and prosecution

August 12, 2018
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John Smyth, who was accused of the sadistic beatings of young men under the guise of Christian discipleship, has died at his home in Cape Town. This brings to an…

John Smyth tortured Christian boys at Iwerne – where’s the CofE inquiry?

August 6, 2018
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The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) hearings into the crimes and cover-up relating to Peter Ball have rightly shocked many in the Church of England, yet what may…

Abuse victim: “The cruel and inhuman treatment I have received from the National Safeguarding Team in Church House, and others in the Church of England hierarchy, makes what Peter Ball did to me pale into insignificance”

March 8, 2018
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It has not been a good week for the Church of England. We were warned as much by our Lead Bishop for Safeguarding, Peter Hancock, when he led the safeguarding…

Mandatory reporting of CofE child abuse is complicated, so let’s proceed incrementally

December 11, 2017
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When judges are considering whether children can be returned to failing parents, they set the bar at a fairly low standard: ‘good enough parenting’ is sufficient. This approach does not…

Child abuse in the Church of England: Justin Welby must either accelerate the change or carry the can

October 8, 2017
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This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer who takes a special interest in Safeguarding as a member of General Synod. _____ When I was…

Safeguarding in the Church of England: when is a victim of child-abuse not a victim?

July 5, 2017
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This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer and a member of General Synod. ______ Yesterday I advanced a more sympathetic perspective on why Lord…