While the Church of England becomes a safe place for children, it is hell for those wrongly accused of abuse

“To address the whole culture of silence in Church is vital,” writes the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in the Church of England Newspaper, “it is a form of abuse,” he adds, mindful of the church’s past reluctance to respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and its manifest failure to protect the vulnerable from predatory paederasts who abuse their sacred positions of authority and trust. Innocence is destroyed and faith is lost. In order to ensure that it can never happen again, and by way of an attempt to right a few heinous wrongs, the church has put in place stringent preventative measures.

“We are here to go back to first principles, which is to let Jesus be heard through us. That means being compassionate and attentive to those who have been abused and sinned against. It means being far more attentive to their pastoral care and the establishment of ways in which they can feel safe to tell their story and be listened to,” the Archbishop writes. “We have to be.. responsible for ensuring the Church is a place safe for all.. We cannot go on keeping them from Jesus.”

‘Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God‘ (Lk 18:16). ‘It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones‘ (17:2).

All of which is noble, right and just. But what of the accused? Should they be kept from Jesus? Should they be denied a thousand years of refined justice?

Contemporary changes in legislation combined with a certain media obsession have had a profound effect on prevailing practice and institutional attitudes. No corroborative evidence is needed now for prosecution of historical sexual abuse. There is an ‘always believe the victim’ attitude, as we have see in the case of Bishop George Bell. “Arrest first and investigate later,” directs the head of the National Crime Agency Lynn Owens. And the accuser is legally assured of anonymity for life, which is convenient if you’ve made it all up. The possibility of generous compensation is an undoubted incentive for false accusation (as can be primordial revenge, or psychological causes such as false memory, attention-seeking or other mental illness).

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