The review into abuse carried out by John Smyth suggested that a number of senior Church of England figures failed to act on concerns and disclosures about sadistic abuse. Since Justin Welby resigned as archbishop of Canterbury, a bishop, a member of the government and a number of survivors have said others should also consider their positions. This is what the report says about six serving and former C of E bishops, two of whom are now dead.
Stephen Conway, bishop of Lincoln
Conway was bishop of Ely in 2013 when a victim of John Smyth disclosed his abuse to the local diocese. According to the independent review led by Keith Makin, Conway wrote to a bishop in South Africa, where Smyth was living, with details of the disclosures. Conway also emailed Jo Bailey Wells, now bishop for episcopal ministry in the Anglican Communion but then chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury, who said she would pass on the information to Lambeth Palace staff and Welby.
Conway told Makin he had passed detailed information to “an entirely independent authority, in another province, on another continent. I had no power to pursue that authority.”
The Makin report said Conway was in a “potentially powerful position” to ensure relevant authorities in the UK and South Africa knew the full extent of the concerns about Smyth’s abuse. Instead he was complacent, it said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Conway confirmed he received a disclosure about Smyth and passed on details to Lambeth Palace and the South African bishop. He said it was his “understanding” that the matter had been reported to police in Cambridgeshire and passed on to police in Hampshire where the abuse took place.
“I am clear that I did all within my authority as a bishop of the Church of England, bearing in mind that I had no authority over an entirely independent province on another continent,” Conway said.
“I acknowledge fully that my fault was in not rigorously pursuing Lambeth about that province-to-province communication, and for this I am deeply sorry.”
Jo Bailey Wells, bishop for episcopal ministry in the Anglican Communion
Bailey Wells was the former archbishop’s personal chaplain in 2013 when news of Smyth’s abuse reached Lambeth Palace.
The Makin report noted that in August 2013 Bailey Wells was alerted by the bishop of Ely to a “serious historic safeguarding situation” regarding Smyth’s abuse of boys and young men at Christian summer camps. She said she would alert Welby and noted that the archbishop might know Smyth personally. Bailey Wells told Welby the allegations against Smyth should be left to the Ely diocese to pursue and to take no further action until the police provided further advice. This further advice never came and Bailey Wells did not follow it up.
She told the Makin review that safeguarding referrals were made every couple of weeks to Lambeth Palace and the allegations against Smyth were “not particularly remarkable”. This attitude was criticised in the report. It said: “The referral should have stood out as being remarkable – at least three victims were known of, with a further number (around five or six) having been referenced by a victim.” It added: “Fundamentally, the diocese was expected to follow safeguarding procedures but there was no oversight from Lambeth Palace, even though they had been alerted. This is all the more surprising given that Lambeth Palace had been told of, and had acknowledged, that Justin Welby may have a connection with John Smyth.”
Bailey Wells also told the church’s national safeguarding team that safeguarding was not part of her role as chaplain to the archbishop. The report challenged this stance. It said: “Stating that safeguarding is not a formal part of a role runs counter to the important maxim that ‘safeguarding is everyone’s business’.” It also suggested Bailey Wells misled Welby by assuring him that a police referral had been made about Smyth’s abuse and the relevant local authority had been informed, when neither proved to be the case. She also falsely told Welby that the South African church had been alerted to the fact that he had fled there, the report found.
Wells said she conveyed all the information she had to Welby. She said: “Because I was advised that Ely was managing this case – including reporting to the police, and specifically asked that Lambeth did not make any direct contact – I did not take further action. With hindsight, I regret not verifying or querying these assertions.
“I am appalled by the abuse perpetrated by John Smyth and the trauma and pain experienced by the survivors. I had no idea of any detail of this at the time. I understand that safeguarding is everyone’s business, including my own, and deeply regret the impression [I gave].”
Martin Seeley, bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Rico Tice, who later became a priest, was told of Smyth’s abuse in 1987. He told the Makin review that when he was interviewed about the possibility of ordination several years later, he was asked about Smyth by the Rev Martin Seeley, who was later appointed bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The Makin report said: “Seeley says that he has no recollection of asking such a question or being asked to do so.”
This week, Seely said: “The archbishop of Canterbury’s decision to step down shows how clearly the C of E understands the need for change and its profound commitment to creating a safer church … We know that no words can undo the damage done to people’s lives both by him and by the failure of individuals in the church and other institutions to respond well.”
Seeley’s office has been approached for comment.
George Carey, former archbishop of Canterbury
Carey, then principal of Trinity theological college in Bristol, was informed of Smyth’s abuse and sent an outline of a 1982 report about Smyth carried out by the Rev Mark Ruston, according to the Makin report. “He denies seeing it,” Makin said.
Smyth enrolled at Trinity theological college in 1983, when Carey was its principal. Carey told Makin that he did not know of Smyth’s attendance. “On the balance of probabilities this seems highly unlikely,” the Makin report said. “George Carey must have known of a person as prominent as John Smyth.”
Carey was named as a member of a “council of reference” for the Zambesi Trust, a charity set up to provide financial support for Smyth and his wife to move to Zimbabwe. Carey told Makin that he did not know he was named. “It is, again, possible but not probable that this was the case,” the Makin report said.
A spokesperson for Carey said: “After the passage of 40 years it is difficult to see how the Makin review could have come to a finding of fact on this matter. Lord Carey maintains that he didn’t receive any report of John Smyth’s abuse in 1983.”
Bishop John Trillo, former bishop of Chelmsford
John Trillo, who died in 1992, was one of the most senior clerics involved in the cover-up of Smyth’s abuse in the 1980s. The Makin report found that Smyth’s abuse was detailed in a report by the Rev Mark Ruston as early as 1982. But those who saw it “participated in an active cover-up to prevent that report and its findings – including that crimes had been committed – coming to light.”
When one of Smyth’s victims was being selected for ordination into the clergy, Ruston alerted the chair of the selection conference, John Trillo, to Smyth’s abuse. Ruston said the reason he informed Trillo was to demonstrate how well the victim had adapted and recovered from the abuse.
The report said: “It is significant that the chair of the conference, a senior member of the clergy, did not act on this information or seek to report this further. Even within the context of the time, with no formal Church of England safeguarding guidance, this clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of safeguarding, both by Mark Ruston and by the bishop.”
Peter Walker, former bishop of Ely
Walker, who died in 2010, was bishop of Ely from 1977 to 1989. One of Smyth’s victims told the Makin review that he recalled Mark Ruston saying he had discussed his investigation into Smyth’s abuse with Walker. The Makin report noted this recollection but said it could not confirm the evidence.
