LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM)
Daily Mail [London, United Kingdom]
December 1, 2024
By Sam Merriman
A bishop who called for Justin Welby to resign over the Church of England’s worst child abuse scandal has said she has been ‘frozen out’ over her comments.
The Bishop of Newcastle broke ranks to call for the Archbishop of Canterbury to step aside over failures that meant serial abuser John Smyth was never brought to justice.
Helen-Ann Hartley said she has been ‘frozen out’ by the Church and has been ‘isolated’ by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York since speaking out.
She also criticised other senior clergy for staying silent over the Church’s safeguarding failures due to ‘careerism’ and a desire to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
And she called for the CofE to be placed in ‘special measures’ over its safeguarding provision, with an independent review of failures taken out of the Church’s hands.
Dr Hartley was the only bishop to publicly call for Dr Welby to resign after a review, by former social services director Keith Makin, found that Smyth’s abuse of more than 100 boys was covered up within the CofE.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to resign over the scandal last month and will complete his official duties by January 6. The Archbishop of York, the second-most senior bishop, will take on his duties until a successor is appointed.
Four Bishops, senior clergy and a member of the committee that will select the next Archbishop of Canterbury are among prominent figures also facing calls to resign over the scandal.
Dr Hartley previously called for anybody found by the review to have failed in safeguarding to step aside and said the Church had put its reputation ‘before the protection of the vulnerable’.
Asked yesterday whether she felt she has been ‘frozen out’ by other bishops over her remarks, she said: ‘Yes, I do.’
The bishop told Radio 4: ‘Some of them are shocked that one of their number has actually called out the culture and has spoken out publicly in a way that has caused some shockwaves amongst the bishops.’
She said that some have been silent because they are ‘fearful of what that means for them’ and added: ‘And some are certainly silent, I think because they do see themselves, sadly, as potentially taking over from Archbishop Justin. There is definitely some careerism.’
Asked what her relationship is like with the Church’s two most senior bishops, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, she said: ‘I would say I don’t have a relationship with either of them at the moment.’
Dr Hartley said there now needs to be a ‘proper reckoning’ and that anybody named in the Makin review should step back while their safeguarding failures are independently checked.
‘This cannot be independence as defined by the Church,’ she said.
She added: ‘I think the Church of England needs placing in special measures in terms of its safeguarding provision.’
Asked about Dr Welby’s announcement that he will not step back from his duties until January, she said that some people are ‘scratching their heads’ over what resignation actually means.
Dr Hartley added: ‘You know, when you resign, you resign. You step back immediately.
‘Sorry, but the credibility of the Church has been shattered by this. Anybody who occupies public ministry in whatever form that is, especially bishops and archbishops, do need to step back.’
A CofE spokesman said its safeguarding team is considering the findings of the Makin review to determine whether any disciplinary action should be taken against individuals named in the report, and that a number of clergy have been asked to step back from ministry while that process continues.
They added: ‘Safeguarding in the Church of England has developed and improved across the Church in recent years but like all institutions we must never be complacent, particularly in our response to victims and survivors.’