Again we see how people in high places will protect those who should be in prison.
Other people may need to resign, the Church of England’s deputy lead bishop for safeguarding has warned in the wake of Justin Welby’s decision to step down from his role.(Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury over Church’s child abuse ‘conspiracy of silence’ | The Independent)
I read the detail of this and it’s just horrific. I can’t believe that there have been no arrests for what is essentially prolonged torture of innocent young men. It was very upsetting just to read what happened.
Still Waters Run Deep >> “Until”.
The Disgusting John Smyth >> "QC.!!
Rests in Hell. Unpeacefully.
Something that should have happened 15yrs ago When Ch4, First Exposed him. 
Save grace, may these disgusting, brocaded, grey-fleshed evil-doers find that all that they preach and extort over their flocks comes to fruition.
Its not the first time that a major religious institution favoured its own reputation before the welfare of children under its care. The claim by Welby that he first heard of the abuse in the 70’s and 80’s after one victim came forward in 2013 seems very unlikely. The fact that the church let this man Smyth escape abroad in the late 80’s seems to confirm that they knew there was a problem and preferred to ignore it and shirk their responsibilities. There is nothing so saddening as religious bodies failing to adhere to the principles of the religion they promote.
We had a remarkably similar occurrence here when Anglican Archbishop Dr. Peter Hollingworth was appointed as Governor General in 2001 by the Howard Government.
He resigned just two years later in the wake of controversy over his role in handling sex abuse allegations in the Anglican Church, and in the aftermath of rape allegations, subsequently withdrawn.
Welby was a knob anyway, and brought the anglican church into disrepute over comments he has made in the past anyway.
Quote:-
Welby was an outspoken spiritual leader of the global Anglican community who grappled publicly with issues ranging from same-sex marriage to Britain’s immigration policy, Israel’s war in Gaza, slavery reparations, climate change and his own mental health problems.
It took Welby a long time to leave having previously said he wouldn’t demonstrating a lack of shame and integrity.
Abuse by various religions has been going on ‘forever’ frequently unseen, I think with publicity about cases many more people feel they can speak out .
Two instances I have heard of of personally, my late friend was the daughter of a bank manager and the local Anglican bishop often went to her home for tea.
The bishop used to say ‘come and sit on my knee’ to the pretty little girl and of course she had to obey in those days. It wasn’t until she grew up that she realised what had been going on under the bishops cassock. When she did realise it wasn’t 'the done thing 'to tell anyone .
Another friend a Roman Catholic married and had just one child, she had visits from the local priest who used to enquire why she was not doing her duty and having more children, he also also told her if her husband couldn’t manage it he was ‘willing to help’.
I am sure there are some good religious people , my very religious stepmother wasn’t one of them with her cruelty and coercive control .
I think the cases we get to hear of are just the tip of the ice berg.
The lost child of Philomena Lee led me to believe that there is a religious madness among those who serve god. The wickedness is beyond belief. Religion very obviously isn’t real.
Only the extremists Cinders…
Religion and human suffering are never far apart.
Why do people say, “I did consider resigning”, but obviously never do. Do they think it makes them more of a tortured soul, mindful of our sympathy? Welby had to be carried kicking and screaming out, before he took the only option. I myself stay well clear of all religious types like Welby, sanctimonious hypocrites the lot of them!
This is nothing to do with religion. It’s shocking abuse of power. Any powerful institution provides a framework where abuse of power can take place. Most institutions now have controls in place to prevent this but back in the 70s the world was a different place. Some terrible things happened. e.g. look at the Saville situation as just one example.
Except Welby resigned because the church tried very hard to hide the abuse. So it’s not the issue of lax oversight and monitoring in the 70’s. It’s the issue of hiding that earlier abuse right up to 2013 and even then only when forced to do accept it happened.
My point was that abuse isn’t caused by religion and it’s not confined to religious institutions. Powerful, hierarchical institutions attract such people. Welby is a figurehead, but every powerful institution protects its own. How many times have we heard the same story. Look at how long it took for Saville to be exposed.
There is always a pay role and associated hangers on, it seems.
Australian Cardinal Pell was acquitted on appeal of child sexual abuse charges but remained tarnished by his response to paedophile priests over decades.The Pope gave him a job in the Vatican though.
If Welby had addressed issues like homelessness, people using food banks, knife crime, heating bills literally going though the roof etc, instead of woke crap, like reparations for slavery, trans rights, not exposing paedophiles et al., he might have had some semblance of what he was put in place for. The C of E is awash with cash and property, worth around 10 billion pounds. What about trying to do some good for the populace for a change. No wonder attendances at churches are plummeting.
All irrelevant to the reason he resigned, which was a serious issue which should not be detracted from.
I consider his comments were very relevant to his suitability as head of the Anglican church and it demonstrated the kind of man he was. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that he covered up the dubious actions of his subordinates. A bloke with mental instability should not be allowed in such a position.
