Church of England accused of ‘punch in gut' by abuse victims

Yahoo

11-02-2025

The Church of England has been accused of delivering a 'punch in the gut' to victims of abuse by voting to delay fully independent safeguarding.
One lay member accused a bishop of moving a 'wrecking amendment' into the highly emotive vote as calls were made for the Government to intervene.
The General Synod, the Church's governing body, was poised to vote for radical changes to its safeguarding procedures.
Yet the passing of an amendment, submitted by the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Philip North, gave Synod members the option to endorse a less radical option and to call for further work on 'legal and practical' requirements for an alternative that many victims backed.
The vote, which followed five hours of debate, came as the Church of England continues to face increasing pressure on safeguarding failings.
A report on the prolific abuse carried out by Christian Camp leader John Smyth ultimately led to the Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation, after the review led by Keith Makin found the Most Rev Justin Welby could have done more to ensure concerns were acted on.
On Tuesday, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who campaigns against abuse as an advocate for survivors, told The Telegraph: 'I am wholeheartedly disheartened by [the vote], because it sends out a signal to all those victims and their families that have been harmed by the way the hierarchy deals with safeguarding.
'From my perspective, it's a slap in the face for them – it is added insult to injury.'
Describing the Synod session as a 'very sad day', she added: 'The Church is not a safe place, they deal with safeguarding in a manner that has not prevented abuse.
'From my perspective, I do believe that now is the time for the Government to act because you now know that everybody is consistent in saying – certainly victims of survivors – that safeguarding has to be removed from the Church of England, it has to be independent.'
Andrew Graystone, a long-time advocate for abuse survivors, said the vote showed the Church had decided to 'keep it in the family'.
He said: 'If you are abused by a vicar, you will still be expected to report it to a bishop. Safeguarding staff will still be located in church offices, employed by the very same bishop.
'The Church of England had an opportunity to start to rebuild trust, by admitting that it needed expertise from outside. But instead they have chosen to keep it in the family.
'Shocking arrogance, and a punch in the gut for victims and survivors of abuse.'
Victims had pleaded with the Church's parliament to endorse a new model which would have seen all Church-employed safeguarding officers transferred to a new independent body.
On Tuesday morning, campaigners stood outside Church House in Westminster, where the Synod was gathering, asking members to endorse this model, with leaflets that stated the Church's reputation was 'in the gutter'.
But the Synod instead voted for a less independent model 'as the way forward in the short term' and for 'further work' to be done to implement the move to full independence.
The endorsed model (option three) will see most national staff move to a new outside non-Church body, but other diocesan and cathedral officers remaining with their current Church employers, although no firm timeline has been given for work to begin on this.
The Synod voted 392 in favour, nine against and six abstained on the final motion.
Caroline, who claims she was abused along with her sister over several years by Oxford vicar David Fletcher, who died in 2022 aged 89, said many victims – such as her – would be 'extremely disappointed' by the result.
Caroline, who is now in her 50s and wishes to withhold her second name, added: 'Sadly, I don't think fully independent safeguarding has been kicked down the road, I think it's been kicked into the stratosphere because nothing happens very quickly in the Church.
'It takes a very long time for anything to move forward, so I just think they've deliberately moved it away so that it never happens.'
Matthew Ineson, who has described how he was abused as a teenager, also told The Telegraph: 'I think this is the result of an institution like the Church being allowed to govern itself with a corrupt hierarchy.
'At the end of the day, the Church of England is responsible to Parliament, but Parliament never seems to want to wield that power.'
He added: 'If this was a school and there had been all these cases and abuse, there would come a point where Ofsted would say, 'Well you're failing, you're not able to do that anymore'.'
Having introduced the amendment, Bishop North sparked anger among some, with Sam Margrave, a lay member of the Synod, posting on X: 'I believe Philip North moved a wrecking amendment today. A manipulation of the highest order. It's a huge blow to independent safeguarding.'
Speaking to journalists afterwards, the bishop denied the vote was evidence of the Church 'kicking safeguarding into the long grass' and said that option four 'is still very much on the table'.
He said: 'It will come back to Synod when we know, legally, that it can be implemented.
'That strikes me as a strong position to be in and the important thing is it's a near unanimous vote for this direction of travel and for greater independence in safeguarding.'
A spokesman for the Church of England previously said its safeguarding team had received 'information of sexual abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour' concerning Fletcher towards 'women and girls'.
On Monday, a fifth of Synod members voted to block the Archbishop of York from delivering his opening speech amid calls for his resignation over allegations of bullying and 'poor judgment' over the Church scandal.
Having survived what amounted to a proxy vote of no confidence in his interim leadership, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said in his address that he did not want to pretend 'that we are not in difficult and challenging times'.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.