From the York diocesan website: Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse: Archbishops’ Joint Pastoral Letter
The Archbishops of York and Canterbury have written a joint Pastoral Letter for wide circulation following the end of the hearing which took place over the last three weeks as part of the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
“We are writing to you to ask for your prayers as Holy Week begins and as the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse has finished its hearing into matters in the Diocese of Chichester. Please will you pray this Holy Week especially for all those involved, and for all affected by safeguarding issues.”
Archbishops Sentamu and Justin hope that their letter can either be read out or distributed this weekend and at the start of Holy Week.
“We take very seriously all that has been heard by the Inquiry. Archbishop Justin said when he gave evidence last week that he had learned again through listening and reading the evidence given to the Inquiry, that we must not simply say sorry, but that we must also take action that demonstrates clearly that we have learnt the lessons. It is a fact that Bishops and Archbishops are now rightly required to listen, learn and act in accordance with safeguarding legislation and good practice.”
Please download the Archbishops’ letter below:
They clearly haven’t listened to anything which has been said. The most obvious thing people wanted was action, not words but the archbishops do exactly the opposite and send out a letter. Not just more words but a letter devoid of any actions whatsoever. If that wasn’t bad enough, the words “survivor” and “victim” aren’t used. Unbelievably, instead of concentrating on survivors, they take the time to thank Bishop Warner showing that hierarchical clericalism is still very much alive despite what Welby said just a few days ago. There have been too many instances recently of poor and insensitive communications… Read more »
I think I have to say that “tak[ing] action that demonstrates clearly we have learned the lessons” involves resignations at a number of levels, certainly including Archbishop Sentamu, along with unequivocal apologies from them for their specific failures. Public penance an optional extra. This statement just reads like hand-wringing and mealy-mouthed corporate “regret” rather than admission that individuals have done specific things wrong.
‘ So, we do need to continue to listen carefully to all that IICSA has to say and, above all, to listen to the voices of the survivors.’ End of paragraph. Opening sentence, next paragraph, ‘Holy Week is about listening to God, the priority for all Christians.’ Listening to survivors lasted about as long as Welby’s tears of shame at the Church’s failings. But I think they will find that God is speaking through the survivors. And the best way they can observe this Holy Week is by real and positive action. They could start by answering letters from survivors… Read more »
Breaking my Lenten discipline of not commenting on TA – just for this piece – however appalled I have been, and I have, by what has emerged over the last few days, it is AS NOTHING compared to the crass, sanctimonious, and po-faced tone of this letter. If you want evidence of clericalism, look no further. They seem to think that the readers of this lamentable epistle need to be told that action will be taken. Who, in their right minds (if there are any left in their right minds who care two hoots what arch/bishops think, say or do)… Read more »
Amidst all this shameful horror which has cast a significant cloud over the entire Church of England it would seem that the slur against Bishop George Bell and the taint on his reputation has been sidelined. Are we any further forward in discovering the nature of the “fresh information” or identifying who exactly will be examining the content of the, so far, undisclosed fresh information.
I, for one, will certainly not be reading out this “Pastoral” Letter to the congregation on Palm Sunday.
Janet, thank you for sharing that you are a survivor. Please be assured that the archbishops do not speak for most of us. We ache for survivors’ pain and believe you deserve proper and rapid support from the Church.
The Archbishop Cranmer blog has a very strongly worded article, with the headline
Where’s the headline: ‘Welby slams Sentamu’s lack of humanity and leadership’?
http://archbishopcranmer.com/welby-slams-sentamu-lack-humanity-leadership/
This deals with Matthew Ineson’s charges against various bishops, including the former Bp of Sheffield and the current Archbishop of York. Which have been reported extensively on TA. Matthew provides further exposition and detail in the comments there.
Sorry but I don’t think the Archbishop Cranmer blog does anybody any favours here. If Jules Gomes is on your side, you know you are in trouble.
In this week of dramatic readings of the Passion I suggest that Pilate, Peter, the priests and the crowd baying for blood should be read by clergy, while the part of Jesus should be given to victims, survivors and whistleblowers in parishes. Where better to do this than in our minsters and cathedrals as an act of contrition.
In most places I assume it will be the usual: the priest will be Jesus, a churchwarden the narrator, and the baddies will be us bums in the pews.
I agree with Charles about the Archbishop Cranmer piece. I see no justification for the claim that mainstream media is soft on the Archbishop of York because he is black.
@Kate, I honestly believe the mainstream media are soft on the Archbishop of York, not because he is black; but because he has made himself the ‘Darling of the Tabloids’ over several years, in his attempt to prove he is more loyal to the Establishment than anyone else. His speech during the last Brexit debate in the Lords was sufficient evidence of this. He can always be relied on to ‘wave the Union Jack’ whenever necessary. In that sense, we have never had two more Establishment Tory archbishops in recent memory. As always, @Stanley Monkhouse is spot-on, and his comments… Read more »
Had Mr Sentamu or Mr Welby any *genuine pastoral concern for any victims/survivors then they would have both been posting RTs of the Anglican Hearing on their Twitter Feeds. Welby alone has 120k Followers and a wide mention reach. Instead, he (/his representatives) used his platform as Arch Bishop to prioritise promoting his *own book. It appears that instructions to (almost) all Diocesan Twitter Feeds *not to report on the Anglican Hearing* was in place throughout the 3-week dates. Note: Wallace Benn admitted to ‘inheriting…a paedophile ring’ when he took up his post in 1992. Why has that salient information… Read more »