Church of England covered up ‘prolific and abhorrent’ John Smyth abuse, independent review finds

The Church of England has been strongly criticised over its handling of significant abuse allegations against the late John Smyth. 

An independent review led by Keith Makin found that Smyth had perpetrated “prolific and abhorrent” abuse over a long time and that the response of the Church of England “amounted to a cover-up”.

Makin said that “words cannot adequately describe the horror of what transpired”. 

“Many of the victims who took the brave decision to talk to us about what they experienced have carried this abuse silently for greater than 40 years,” he said. 

“Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the eye of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up.” 

He said that lessons should be learned from the review and that the Church of England must “implement robust safeguarding procedures across their organisations which might be governed independently”.

“This has been a protracted process but a vital one to uncover the extent of John Smyth’s despicable behaviour and the way the Church reacted to it,” he continued. 

“I would really like to sincerely thank the victims for his or her courage, grace and dignity and I would really like to remind everyone reporting on this review about their right to anonymity and privacy.”

The Church of England’s Lead Safeguarding Bishop, Joanne Grenfell, and National Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, apologised for Smyth’s abuse and the Church’s handling of the allegations.

“We are deeply sorry for the horrific abuse inflicted by the late John Smyth and its lifelong effects, already spanning greater than 40 years,” they said.

“The review concludes that Smyth is arguably probably the most prolific serial abuser to be related to the Church of England.

“We know that no words can undo the damage done to people’s lives each by him and by the failure of people within the Church and other institutions to reply well.

“We are also aware that the time the review has taken, which the reviewer addresses, in addition to the small print now in the general public domain have been retraumatising for survivors.” 

They said they were “appalled” by comments highlighted within the review that were made by late cleric, David Fletcher, who was aware of the abuse within the Eighties and was quoted as saying, “I assumed it will do the work of God immense damage if this were public.”

“We are appalled that any clergy person could consider that covering up abuse was justified within the name of the Gospel, which is about proclaiming Good News to the poor and healing the broken hearted,” Grenfell and Kubeyinje stated.

“It was unsuitable for a seemingly privileged group from an elite background to come to a decision that the needs of victims needs to be put aside, and that Smyth’s abuse shouldn’t due to this fact be dropped at light.

“Every member of the Church is chargeable for a culture wherein victims are heard, responded to well, and put first: there may be never a spot for covering up abuse.” 

They said they’d “fully support” any international investigation into Smyth’s abuse after the report criticised Church officers for doing nothing to stop Smyth from moving to Zimbabwe where the abuse continued and a boy was found dead in a swimming pool of certainly one of his camps. 

“We apologise unreservedly that the needs of the victims weren’t on the forefront when it comes to pondering and planning and the response was not trauma informed,” said Grenfell and Kubeyinje.

“We will proceed to learn lessons about responding well which is reflected in our revised guidance and survivor engagement framework.

“We welcome all of the recommendations and can consider them now intimately, noting work already underway. We wholeheartedly endorse the reviewer’s emphasis that safeguarding should be everyone’s responsibility within the Church, working closely with safeguarding professionals.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, apologised for failing to make sure the allegations against Smyth were properly investigated after becoming aware of them in 2013, and for delaying in meeting victims.

“I’m deeply sorry that this abuse happened. I’m so sorry that in places where these young men, and boys, must have felt protected and where they need to have experienced God’s love for them, they were subjected to physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse,” he said.

“I’m sorry that concealment by many individuals who were fully aware of the abuse over a few years meant that John Smyth was capable of abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice. The report rightly condemns that behaviour.

“I had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013.

“Nevertheless the review is evident that I personally did not be sure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated. Since that point the best way wherein the Church of England engages with victims and survivors has modified beyond recognition. Checks and balances introduced seek to be sure that the identical couldn’t occur today.

“I repeat my apology contained within the review, that I didn’t meet quickly with victims after the total horror of the abuse was revealed by Channel 4 in 2017. As the report says, no Archbishop can meet with everyone but I promised to see them and failed until 2020. This was unsuitable.”