UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
By Justin Parkinson
BBC News Magazine
George Bell was one of the most influential Anglican bishops of the last century. But, almost 60 years after his death, he was accused of having been a child abuser. Now campaigners are battling to defend his reputation.
Until last autumn George Bell was a widely respected figure within the Church of England. The former Bishop of Chichester – the diocese covering East and West Sussex – was best remembered for his work to help refugees fleeing Hitler’s Germany. He had an Anglican Holy Day – 3 October – named after him.
But on 22 October last year the Church revealed it had made a payment to someone who had made a complaint against Bell. The current Bishop of Chichester, Martin Warner, had made a formal apology for allegations, dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s, of “sexual offences against an individual who was at the time a young child”.
The Church said it had carried out a “thorough” investigation, including the use of “expert independent reports”. “None of those reports,” it added, “found any reason to doubt the veracity of the claim.”
The statement shocked the Anglican world. One newspaper headline went further than the Church, saying: “Revered Bishop George Bell was a paedophile.” Another’s read: “Church of England bishop George Bell abused young child.”
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