The Church of England’s National Safeguarding Team (NST) announced on Tuesday that it is preparing to commence disciplinary proceedings against clergy named in a damning review into abuse by the late John Smyth.
The 10 named clergy include former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, retired Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, and former Rector of All Souls, Langham Place, Hugh Palmer.
They were among clergy singled out for criticism in the Makin Review, which was published last November and concluded that “the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a coverup”.
The backlash against the Church over the findings was so strong that it led to the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Since the publication of the review, the NST has been reviewing all clergy under the authority or oversight of the Church of England who were criticised in the review.
That four-step process, which included the recommendations of an independent panel and review by an independent barrister, has now concluded.
“This has been a rigorous and independent process to look at whether those named present any immediate risk and consider whether there is a case for disciplinary proceedings for clergy, under the Clergy Discipline Measure [CDM],” said the NST.
“In reaching its conclusions, the Stage 3 panel has considered the safeguarding policies and guidance which were in force at the relevant time, the facts of the particular case, the relevant legal considerations and whether there is sufficient evidence to justify proceedings.
“The conclusions at Stage 3 were validated by the independent barrister at Stage 4 in the external scrutiny process.”
As the time limit for starting proceedings has already expired, the NST will need special permission from the President of the Tribunals to bring the cases against the list of 10 clergy.
Two clergy were named in the Makin Review but have not been included in the list facing disciplinary action at this time as they are subject to other ongoing processes. A decision on whether to seek to bring cases against them too will be made once these current live processes are concluded.
Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church of England’s National Director of Safeguarding, said: “We must not forget that at heart of this case are the survivors and victims who have endured the lifelong effects of the appalling abuse by John Smyth, we are truly sorry.
“Today we have announced next steps in the process looking at both risk and disciplinary processes. We know this will never undo the harm caused but the Church is committed to taking very seriously its response to the findings of the review as well as responding to its recommendations.”
The 10 clergy facing disciplinary action under the CDM are:
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Bishop Paul Butler
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Bishop George Carey
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Revd Roger Combes
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Revd Sue Colman
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Revd Andrew Cornes
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Revd Tim Hastie-Smith
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Revd Hugh Palmer
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Revd Paul Perkin
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Revd Nick Stott
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Revd John Woolmer
