Church of England would be shut down if it were a school, survivors’ lawyer tells final IICSA hearing

Mar 24, 2018 by

by Hattie Williams, Church Times:

THE Church of England is an “inappropriate” organisation to have charge or care of children and vulnerable adults, and would have been closed if it were a school, a lawyer representing survivors of clerical sex abuse has said.

David Greenwood of Switalskis Solicitors, whose clients include members of the survivors’ group MASCAS, was delivering his closing statement on Friday on the final day of the three-week public hearing by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA).

The Inquiry is using the diocese of Chichester as a case study to investigate the extent to which the Anglican Church failed to protect children from sex abuse.

“Over the past three weeks I have been struck by how inappropriate the Church as an organisation is to have charge or care of children and vulnerable adults. Personally, I would not want my son to spend a moment in the company of a member of this organisation.

“Its lack of a coherent structure, the possibility of clerics’ carving out places where they can abuse, the ability to blame one another, the defensiveness, and lack of accountability are just a few criticisms. This is an organisation, were it a school, which would have been closed down a long time ago.”

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