Justice deferred

There is something quite awful in both the prevalence of abusive clergy behaviour and the inadequate way in which it has been acknowledged and victims properly responded to and cared for – and the Panorama programme this week, with its focus on some of the story in the diocese of Lincoln, is only the latest visibility of this shame.

From my small personal knowledge of some of the Lincoln situation, I had hoped that the present leadership and safeguarding team’s initiatives in consistently feeding through to what quickly became a specialist police team would at least be seen as creditworthy amidst all the justified criticism.

It had been heart-breaking when it became apparent in about 2015 that the previous national ‘Past Case Review’ process across the Church of England, which had been intended to ensure that there were no neglected or concealed disclosures, had not in fact been as selfless or rigorous as everyone imagined it would have been.

Without breaking any confidentiality, I was one of a decently sized group of longer-serving clergy and others who were asked to come together quite frequently to be made aware of what the police were able to share about the developing situation and to be prepared to be deployed with appropriate informed pastoral care for individuals or parishes without protecting the backs of anyone as soon as it might be needed.

But, a couple of years ago, I moved away from the diocese to take up my present post and have not been in touch with any of this since, other than to pray for those who will have continued to share this responsibility.

The Bishop of Grantham’s statement this week now is:

Whilst some matters remain under investigation it is not possible to comment specifically on the questions that have been posed to the diocese by the BBC.

The Diocese of Lincoln wishes to acknowledge that past matters have not been handled well. The diocese is committed to learn from its mistakes. I am very sorry that it took so long for justice to be served.

The past abuse that our safeguarding team brought to light, through our revisiting and review of past cases, is all the more appalling given what the public deserve and are fully entitled to expect, which is the highest level of conduct from clergy and all those involved in leadership in the church. All people are made in the image of God and abuse of any kind is contrary to that belief.

It is as a result of our commitment to ensuring justice is served, that our safeguarding team have developed an effective partnership with Lincolnshire Police, working together on Operation Redstone. Together they have worked tirelessly to ensure that convictions were secured where possible and where this was not an option, that risk was managed appropriately. Throughout all recent processes our hope is that victims and survivors have felt heard, and been well supported and cared for, although we acknowledge we may not have always got this right.

Every effort is being made to ensure that safeguarding is part of the DNA of the Diocese of Lincoln. There are high levels of confidence in our safeguarding practitioners from Lincolnshire Police and statutory authorities. There is mandatory safeguarding training that is externally audited and independently validated with support from Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children and Adult partnership boards. Our safeguarding team have delivered face to face training to 3296 people in the past five years.

As a diocese we promise to offer support to anyone who contacts us about issues of harm or abuse and are committed to ensure that churches are a safe place for all.