Church of England ‘broken’, lead safeguarding bishop says after abuse scandal

The Church of England is “broken”, the lead safeguarding bishop said as victims of abuser John Smyth looked on at a gathering of the Church’s parliament.

Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell made the comments at the General Synod on Monday during a debate on the Makin Review which looked at the Church’s handling of allegations of serious abuse by the late barrister Smyth.

The independent review, published in November, concluded that the Christian camp leader might have been brought to justice had the then-archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby formally reported allegations to police five years before Smyth’s death.

Addressing the Synod in central London, Ms Grenfell highlighted the work being done by the Church to reform safeguarding procedures while survivors of Smyth watched in the chamber and online.

“However, we are ministering as a broken church, work that I’ve outlined can never take away the pain of victims and survivors or offer adequate recompense or assurance of change today,” she said.

During the debate, unnamed survivors of Smyth implored Synod members to consider victims during their discussions and voting on safeguarding issues, through statements read out by deputy lead bishop for safeguarding Bishop of Birkenhead Julie Conalty.

One statement read: “Please imagine what it is like for survivors and victims waiting for justice.

“You are all witnesses and all to some extent, complicit in failing victims so catastrophically by inaction, by lack of resolve, by failing to ensure processes changed and justice pursued relentlessly.

“We have been failed by so many. Do not fail us again over the next few days.”

Another said: “The moral leadership of the Church of England hinges crucially on the transparency of her leaders.

“I do not believe full transparency has been shown in this regard. Put more bluntly, some people have been lying.

“If the Church of England does not show moral leadership, then she will die, and the country will lose a valuable force for good and so I urge anyone who has attempted to protect the Church from this scandal to come forward and explain their actions.”

Another survivor criticised the Church’s lack of “trauma-informed awareness” in its dealings with victims.

Smyth – thought to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic attacks across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa.

He died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and so was “never brought to justice for the abuse”.

Mr Welby initially declined to resign, saying instead that he was “deeply sorry that this abuse happened” and acknowledged he had “personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated”.

Following days of pressure including a petition, Mr Welby announced less than a week later that he was quitting, and stepped down officially in January.