Questions linger about church's knowledge of abuse

From Western North Carolina-

Former Episcopal priest Howard White has finally been brought to justice for sexual abuse crimes he admitted to committing in Haywood, but with civil litigation still pending, the story isn’t yet over.

Last week in Haywood County Superior Court, White, 78, pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of three youths in the mid-1980s and one more in 2004 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The emotional hearing featured not only District Attorney Ashley Welch reading the facts of the cases into record, but also one victim’s powerful statement. Between the two, the details that emerged — details which White agreed were factual — confirmed just how monstrous the crimes committed by the once-respected former rector of Grace Church in the Mountains really were.

More here-

https://www.themountaineer.com/news/questions-linger-about-church-s-knowledge-of-abuse/article_706f45a4-f8bb-11e9-b72f-a302783ba874.html

Abuse survivors await apology from Anglican Church for physical harm: Bennett

From Canada-

The Anglican Church’s recent apology for doing “spiritual harm” to Indigenous Peoples is a beginning, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said Wednesday, but victims of sexual abuse at the hands of one priest in the 1970s and ’80s continue to wait for an apology for physical harm they endured from a “man of the cloth.”

In an interview, Bennett said several survivors have been clear they want an apology from the church for the legacy of Ralph Rowe, a former priest and Boy Scout leader who abused children during the two decades he spent travelling among remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario.

Bennett and her husband Peter O’Brian –himself a victim of childhood sexual abuse — have spent years trying to raise awareness about the impacts of Rowe’s abuse, its long-lived impacts and in some cases, deadly consequences.

More here-

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/abuse-survivors-await-apology-from-anglican-church-for-physical-harm-bennett

Archbishop of Canterbury denies giving accused bishops 'an easy ride'

From Premier-

The Most Rev Justin Welby was giving evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) investigation into the Church of England on Thursday.

He has featured heavily in evidence over the last nine days as the head of the Anglican Church and has faced accusations of failing to sanction bishops accused of committing or failing to report child sexual abuse.

One survivor, Rev Matthew Ineson, previously criticised Mr Welby and the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu for failing to act after he disclosed being abused as a teenager by a priest.

Mr Ineson told the inquiry: "I cannot see the face of Jesus in the Archbishop of Canterbury or York.
"The Archbishop of Canterbury consistently takes no further action and, to me, therefore, condones all these actions."

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Welby said that although he was the head of the Church of England, he had no direct power but "influence" over the other bishops.

More here-

 https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-denies-giving-accused-bishops-an-easy-ride

Bill requiring priests to report child-abuse confessions to police is pulled

From California-

A bill that would have required members of the clergy to report information to police that they received about child abuse and neglect during private confessions has been pulled by its author, state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo.

The action came in the wake of an all-out effort by California Catholics to derail the bill, SB360. In a letter read at every Mass in San Francisco and San Mateo counties on June 23, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said, “For Catholics, confession is sacred, and the ability to confess our sins confidentially is essential to our religious belief and practice.” He urged parishioners to mail letters to Hill and other legislators.

Oakland Diocese Bishop Michael Barber was even more direct.

More here-

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Bill-requiring-priests-to-report-child-abuse-14083573.php

Archbishop of Canterbury says failure on child sexual abuse is "knife in Church's soul"

From The Telegraph-

The Archbishop of Canterbury has told Church of England leaders that their failure to deal with child sexual abuse is "a knife in our soul".

Speaking at the opening of the General Synod in York on Friday, the Most Rev Justin Welby told an audience of hundreds of synod members that there is much more progress to be made in the wake of the safeguarding scandal.

He said that "every time the Archbishop of York or I see another case where there's a falling short of our response, it is a knife in our soul".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, along with Dr John Sentamu, are due to give evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) later this week.

More here-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/09/archbishop-canterbury-says-failure-child-sexual-abuse-knife/

Disciplinary action against former Anglican Bishop Philip Newell halted

From Tasmania-

The Anglican Church in Tasmania has been ordered by the Supreme Court to stop its proceedings against the Bishop.

In its 2017 report, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse highlighted failures of the church in Tasmania and criticised Bishop Newell, who allowed a now-convicted paedophile to stay in the church.

The commission referred to evidence he had been made aware in 1987 that now-convicted paedophile Louis Daniels had sexually abused three boys.

He allowed Daniels to stay in the church, and promoted him to a high-ranking position two years later on the basis he "amend his life".

The church instituted disciplinary proceedings after the commission's criticisms but last year, shortly before the Diocesan Tribunal was to begin hearing the case, Bishop Newell applied to the Supreme Court for a stay of proceedings based on ill-health.

More here-

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-04/former-bishop-philip-newell-wins-court-case/11178160 

and here-

https://au.news.yahoo.com/tas-bishop-child-abuse-probe-halted-065743786--spt.html 

and here-

https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6200085/tribunal-looking-at-bishops-response-to-abuse-claims-axed/?cs=12

Church of England officials 'turned blind eye' to child abuse claims

From Premier-

Clergy and staff from a Church of England Diocese were referred to police in 2015 after church leaders had allegedly "turned a blind eye" to claims of child abuse, an investigation has revealed.

Lincolnshire Police and Lincoln Diocese investigated 25 people over alleged abuse, from a list of 53 names which were passed to officers, with three cases leading to convictions.

The BBC's Panorama said some of the names could have been referred years earlier as part of the Church of England's national Past Cases Review, which examined tens of thousands of church records in 2008 and 2009 to discover whether abuse cases had slipped through the net.

Not all of the names on the list related to child abuse allegations.

Detective Superintendent Rick Hatton, who leads the ongoing investigation, named Operation Redstone, told a Panorama programme being broadcast on Monday: "We whittled it down to about 25 names whereby we either knew that they'd committed offences or there was some issue around risk to members of the public from them.

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Church-of-England-officials-turned-blind-eye-to-child-abuse-claims 

and here-

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6972397/Church-England-leaders-turned-blind-eye-child-abuse-claims.html

Archbishop spent $473,000 in child abuse inquiry legal fees without proper authorisation

From Australia-

The former Anglican archbishop Roger Herft spent almost half a million dollars for his legal representation before the child sexual abuse royal commission without proper authorisation from the diocese of Perth, which has not asked him to reimburse the money.

Of the $473,707 excluding GST spent by the diocese on Herft’s legal fees, $146,460 went to the law firm owned by Herft’s then deputy chancellor. The deputy chancellor is an honorary, unpaid position, usually held by a senior barrister or judge, who advises the archbishop on legal matters. The payments are detailed in the meeting minutes of the diocese’s annual synod in 2017.

The minutes reveal the money spent representing Herft, one of the most senior figures within the Anglican church in Australia, was not authorised through usual church processes. It came from the diocese’s professional standards budget, but without a written resolution authorised by the diocesan council, which expenditure from this budget requires.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/anglican-archbishop-child-abuse-inquiry-legal-fees-authorisation

Former archbishop under investigation for failing to report all child abuse allegations

From Australia-

One of the Anglican church’s most senior figures, the former archbishop of Perth Roger Herft, is under internal investigation for failing to report all allegations of child sexual abuse to the police while he was bishop of Newcastle.

On Thursday the church issued a statement confirming Herft is being investigated by the Episcopal Standards Commission, the Anglican body for dealing with allegations about bishops.
“The Episcopal Standards Commission is investigating the many issues which arise from the information it has received. It will determine its course of action as soon as it can,” a church spokesman said.

Herft’s conduct while he was the bishop of Newcastle between May 1993 and February 2005 was scrutinised by the child sexual abuse royal commission, which delivered its final report in December 2017.

It comes almost three years after Herft gave evidence to the royal commission that while he understood matters of child abuse should be reported to the police, he believed he was only obliged to report when he received a complaint of substance, and if he knew the name of the complainant.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/31/former-archbishop-under-investigation-for-failing-to-report-all-child-abuse-allegations 

and here-

https://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/former-perth-anglican-archbishop-roger-herft-could-be-defrocked-amid-royal-commission-into-child-abuse-findings/news-story/1dc888faa239e5c9e2027575c302bbf5 

and here-

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-31/roger-herft-under-investigation-by-anglican-church/10768102

Two former senior Newcastle Anglicans could be stripped of any positions in the church

From Australia-

TWO former senior Newcastle Anglican Diocese members have rejected royal commission findings against them in a hearing that could strip them of any positions in the Anglican Church.

Former Newcastle Assistant Bishop Richard Appleby and former registrar Peter Mitchell have told a church tribunal the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse erred in finding they failed in their responses to child sex allegations and abuse survivor Steve Smith.

Bishop Appleby and Mr Mitchell told a Newcastle Anglican professional standards board hearing they were treated “unfairly” by the royal commission. While Mr Mitchell admitted the commission’s finding that he adopted a “deliberately obstructive approach” when police investigated allegations against Newcastle priest George Parker, he denied it in his submission to the professional standards board.

More here-

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5802607/it-was-unfair-former-anglican-bishop-and-registrar-criticise-royal-commission/

Anglican church needs police clearance for new clergy amid child abuse reports

From South Africa-

In an unprecedented move to curb child abuse, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa has adopted new measures that include requesting police clearance for those who want to serve as its clergy.

"In future, anyone wanting to be ordained to serve as a clergyperson will have to provide a police clearance certificate," said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town in a statement on Wednesday
“From January 2019, we will progressively enforce the same rule for lay ministers, especially those involved in youth ministry and Sunday School teaching," said the bishop.

He said the church has also set up an email address to make it easier to report allegations of such abuse.

More here-

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/anglican-church-needs-police-clearance-for-new-clergy-amid-child-abuse-reports-17332409 

also here-

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-10-03-anglicans-demand-police-clearance-from-would-be-priests-after-sex-scandal/

Australian bishop: Seal of confession cannot be ended by ‘law of politicians’

From Australia-

Politicians can change the law, but priests won’t violate the confessional, said the administrator of the Archdiocese of Adelaide.

A new law says religious ministers in the state of South Australia will have to report anyone who admits to child abuse, even if it’s in the confessional.

Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson in May became the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse in the 1970s. He could face two years in prison.

Adelaide is the capital of the state of South Australia.

Bishop Gregory O’Kelly, an Adelaide native, was appointed by Francis as apostolic administrator for the Adelaide archdioceseafter Wilson’s trial.

More here-

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/06/15/australian-bishop-seal-of-confession-cannot-be-ended-by-law-of-politicians/ 

Our confessional guidance is not uncanonical, Canterbury diocese says

From The Church Times-

CANTERBURY diocese has defended itself against the charge that guidance on its website advises priests to betray the seal of the confessional.

The Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford, Canon Robin Ward, this week called the advice “uncanonical”, and said that it placed the clergy in an “invidious and unsatisfactory position”.

The diocese’s child- and adult-protection guidelines, drafted and posted online in early 2015, state: “The Bishop emphasises that . . . any priest hearing a confession, regularly or otherwise, must say prior to hearing that confession the following statement of confidentiality and safeguarding: ‘If you touch on any matter in your confession that raises a concern about the well-being or safeguarding of another person or yourself, I am duty bound to pass that information on to the relevant agencies, which means that I am unable to keep such information confidential.’”

Prior to this, the guidelines cite the House of Bishops policy for safeguarding children (Protecting All God’s Children, 2010), which state: “Canon Law constrains a priest from disclosing details of any crime or offence which is revealed in the course of formal confession; however, there is some doubt as to whether this absolute privilege is consistent with the civil law. Where a penitent’s own behaviour is at issue, the priest should not only urge the person to report it to the police or the local authority children’s social care, if that is appropriate, but may judge it necessary to withhold absolution. In such a case the priest may consider it necessary to alert the bishop to his or her decision in order to safeguard himself or herself and seek advice on the issues, though the penitent’s details would not be shared without their permission. The priest might also judge it appropriate to encourage the penitent to speak personally to the bishop.”

More here

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/1-june/news/uk/our-confessional-guidance-is-not-uncanonical-canterbury-diocese-says

Salvation Army, Scouts, YMCA, Anglican Church sign on to redress scheme for sex abuse victims

From Australia-

Social Services Minister Dan Tehan made an announcement with representatives of all the organisations in Canberra this morning, as the Turnbull Government continues to build the compensation regime.

The Catholic Church yesterday became the first non-government institution to formally opt-in, joining all states and territories except Western Australia.

Mr Tehan said the four institutions signing on today brought the coverage of the national redress scheme to 80 per cent of survivors.

"I thank the institutions for the leadership they have shown, for owning up to past wrongs, owning up for behaviour that can only be described as despicable and deplorable," Mr Tehan said.

"But [also] for wanting to turn a page, to provide redress and to make sure that the survivors get the justice that they deserve."

The final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse consists of 17 volumes with the Scouts and YMCA referred to in volume 14 among other recreational groups.

Survivors from all institutions will receive up to $150,000 compensation, along with counselling.

More here-

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-31/child-sex-abuse-national-redress-scheme-more-organisations-join/9818820

An abuse of trust White hid behind his charm

From North Carolina-

Howard White is now seen by some as a wolf in sheep's clothing, the devil in a white robe.

But between 1984 and 2006, many in Haywood County only saw the former Episcopal priest as the beloved rector of Waynesville's Grace Church in the Mountains.

Since then, much has changed for White, 76, who has been convicted of child sexual abuse in New England, and now faces abuse charges in Haywood County dating back to 1985.

White, who preferred the affectionate, disarming nickname "Howdy," has been indicted by a Haywood County Grand Jury on charges that he abused one boy and one girl during his time in Haywood.

More here-

https://www.themountaineer.com/news/an-abuse-of-trust/article_36fd9526-4185-11e8-8def-ef7715b0666a.html

The Guardian view of abuse in the church: a truly dreadful story

From The Guardian-

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is just finishing its investigation of the scandals involving the Church of England in Sussex or, in the jargon, the diocese of Chichester. What it has found, in the words of one witness, has been “horrifying to a huge degree, because you see this extraordinary and atrocious willingness to turn a blind eye to things going very, very seriously wrong, and entirely damaging human beings for their whole lifetimes”. The speaker was Justin Welby, the present archbishop of Canterbury. He can’t on this occasion be accused of overstatement. The picture that has emerged of the Church of England is an organisation almost paralysed by self-importance, but lacking in real self-confidence and, as a result, almost wholly unaccountable, even internally. Bishops quite often burned all their confidential files on leaving office, to ensure there was no evidence to trouble their successors. The clergy were held to be more important than the laity, and the bishops far superior to the parish clergy. The archbishop told the inquiry that he thinks every day about how the church will answer for its sins on the day of judgment, but few people within it seem to have been troubled by the thought of any earlier reckoning.

This goes for both the preceding archbishops of Canterbury, Lord Williams and Lord Carey. Lord Carey, who submitted two paragraphs of written evidence to the inquiry, was sacked last summer by Mr Welby from his post as an unpaid parish priest after details emerged of his suppression of evidence in the case of Peter Ball, who had abused boys as a junior bishop in Chichester before being promoted to become bishop of Gloucester and finally arrested, charged and sentenced after one of his victims killed himself. Lord Carey still believes he has been treated unfairly, and some of his conservative evangelical supporters claim that he is being persecuted for his theological views.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/the-guardian-view-of-abuse-in-the-church-a-truly-dreadful-story

Justin Welby: sexual abusers can never be trusted again

From The Guardian-

People who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults can never be trusted again even if they genuinely repent, the archbishop of Canterbury has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

“We know abusive behaviour tends to repeat. If someone has been an abuser, they can never be trusted again. You will never take a chance on them again,” Justin Welby said.

The Bible was “utterly, brutally blunt about the difference between forgiveness and the consequences of sin. Where there is something done wrong, there will be consequences,” he said.

“If you have abused and repent genuinely, you should still go to prison,” he added.

Welby was giving evidence on the last day of witness testimony in three weeks of hearings into sexual abuse in the Church of England, focusing on the diocese of Chichester in West Sussex. 

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/justin-welby-child-sexual-abusers-never-trusted-again

ROWAN WILLIAMS ADMITS FAILINGS OVER C OF E CHILD ABUSE

From The Tablet-

The Church of England was “naive and uncritical” when in came to abuses of power by clergy, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

On day eight of a three-week hearing on the Anglican church as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), Lord Williams of Oystermouth said that a mindset in which the authority of an ordained minister was thought to be “beyond criticism” was a “definitely a problem” when it came to preventing abuse.

“So much of this turns on how we understand the exercise of power in the Church, in which we have often been in the past — myself included — naïve and uncritical,” he admitted. “It did take us an unconscionably long time for us to really focus on the need of the complainant and the proper care,” he told the inquiry.

He added that this “top down model of authority” leaves “little mental or spiritual space for a victim to speak out in the confidence that they will be heard”.

Even when the Church did begin to act, such as in a review of past cases a decade ago, it only “skimmed the surface”, and failed to do justice to the perspective of victims, he said.

More here-

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8732/rowan-williams-admits-failings-over-c-of-e-child-abuse

also here-

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16087295.Sexist_Church_culture_may_be_linked_to_failure_to_tackle_child_abuse_____Williams/

'We beg forgiveness'‚ says Archbishop Makgoba as SA author accuses priests of abuse

From South Africa-

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said on Tuesday that he took responsibility for cases of abuse within the Anglican Church‚ even when it happened under the watch of his predecessors.

He was speaking after award-winning author Ishtiyaq Shukri issued a statement earlier this month that detailed years of abuse at the hands of priests in Kimberley.

Shukri’s revelation came in the wake of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s resignation as an ambassador for Oxfam amid a sex scandal that has rocked the international aid organisation.

Shukri said this resignation was hypocritical because Tutu had been silent on sex scandals in the church.

More here-

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-03-13-we-beg-forgiveness-says-archbishop-makgoba-as-sa-author-accuses-priests-of-abuse/

Paedophile priests continued to lead services amid poor monitoring, hearing told

From Premier-

"Toothless" monitoring of convicted paedophile priests meant they were able to continue leading Anglican Church services even after being banned from doing so, an inquiry heard.

Bishop Wallace Parke Benn told the Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse the Rev Roy Cotton was restricted from public ministry to avoid contact with children but it was "difficult" to enforce.

Fiona Scolding QC, the lead lawyer for the Anglican strand of the inquiry, is examining how the Church of England handled allegations of sexual misconduct stretching back to the 1950s, first focusing on the Diocese of Chichester.

She questioned the former Bishop of Lewes at the public hearing in London on Monday over paedophile priests Roy Cotton, his friend Colin Pritchard, Gordon Rideout, Jonathan Graves and Robert Coles - who all operated in the Diocese.

Ms Golding described the sanctions imposed on them as a "stern telling off" rather than anything more substantial.

Bishop Benn, who served from 1997 to 2012, said he had "inherited" a paedophile ring when he took his role in East Sussex and that "hindsight was a blessed thing" when questioned before chairman Alexis Jay and her panel.

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Paedophile-priests-continued-to-lead-services-amid-poor-monitoring-hearing-told