JUSTICE FOR BISHOP GEORGE BELL OF CHICHESTER

"BELL-RINGER EXTRAORDINAIRE" - PETER HITCHENS - Q & A - SEPTEMBER 3 2016

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2016/09/peter-hitchens-faqs.html

Q.Why are you so concerned about the abuse allegations against the late Bishop Bell?

PETER HITCHENS: First because, having helped make a BBC Radio 4 'Great Lives' programme in which I praised several of his actions, I felt it my personal duty to defend that judgment when he was attacked. But also for two other reasons. 1. Bell's reputation is hugely important because of his lonely, near-solitary principled opposition to the deliberate British bombing of German civilians during World War Two (this was our policy, though few now realise it). 2. The way in which the Church of England failed to protect that reputation, and abandoned the most basic rules of justice in handling the accusation against him. Please see

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2016/03/murder-in-the-cathedral-the-casual-wrecking-of-a-great-name.html

"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND SMEARS SAINTS AND SHIELDS SCOUNDRELS" - REV'D DR JULES GOMES - JULY 29 2016

http://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/jules-gomes-the-c-of-e-smears-saints-shields-scoundrels/

...After much pressure from a cadre of eminent lawyers, commentators, writers, and members of the House of Lords, the C of E finally agreed to an independent review of the Bell case at the end of June 2016. A gaggle of incompetent and frightened bishops who have tarnished Bell’s reputation now have to contend with historian Andrew Chandler’s meticulously researched and recently published biography George Bell, Bishop of Chichester: Church, State, and Resistance in the Age of Dictatorship. Chandler ends on a note that any historian, judge or journalist would be wise to heed when judging Bishop Bell....

"The allegation of 2015 is anomalous...It may simply be observed here that such iconoclastic activities are not unknown to historians of other, far darker, times and contexts."

"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MASTERS THE NON-APOLOGY" - REV'D DR JULES GOMES - AUG 31 2016

http://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/rev-jules-gomes-the-church-of-england-masters-the-non-apology/

When is an apology not an apology? An apology is not an apology when a Church of England bishop offers it to a victim of sexual abuse on a silver platter of spin as a tactical cop-out while shedding crocodile tears and mumbling ‘Awfully sorry, old chap!’ in the mode of a Bertie Wooster facing a snappy Gussie Fink-Nottle...a heartfelt apology, deeply rooted in the Christian theology of repentance and reconciliation, has now been turned into an episcopal Punch and Judy show with lawyers, bureaucrats and managers on fat cat salaries pulling the strings while their purple-clad puppets dance to their dirges, desperately clutching at mitre and crosier...When is an apology a genuine apology? When it is neither as slippery as a banana skin or as shallow as the paddling pool of a typical Anglican sermon.

"I BELIEVE CAROL IS TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN - AGED 5 - SHE WAS ABUSED BY A 'MAN OF THE CLOTH' IN CHICHESTER, BUT - ON THE BASIS OF HER OWN DETAILED ACCOUNT - I BELIEVE THE TRUTH IS SHE WASN'T ABUSED BY BISHOP BELL. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND - ESPECIALLY THE DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER - MUST CONFRONT THAT TRUTH. AND SO MUST WE"

~ Richard W. Symonds - The Bell Society

http://www.georgebellgroup.org/carols-account-facts/

"CHURCH OF ENGLAND WARNED BISHOPS NOT TO APOLOGISE TOO FULLY TO SEX ABUSE VICTIMS", DAILY TELEGRAPH, 22 AUGUST 2016

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/27/church-told-bishops-not-to-apologise-to-abuse-victims-daily-telegraph-22-august-2016/

“The approach to survivors is often a corporate model and this document supports that – it shows a church led by lawyers and insurers. You get the impression that these people are really their masters,” he [‘Joe’] said. “The Church will say ‘our hands are tied’, but they are paying the people who are tying their hands. They should say ‘we need to stop this nonsense’, but they wash their hands like Pontius Pilate.”

"THE BISHOP BELL AFFAIR; AND THE PLEA TO UNFROCK" - CHURCH TIMES - LETTERS (GABRIELLE HIGGINS) - 26 AUGUST 2016

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/the-bishop-bell-affair-and-the-plea-to-unfrock-church-times-letters-26-august-2016/

BISHOPS WERE URGED NOT TO APOLOGISE FULLY FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE TO MINIMISE LIABILITY" - DAILY TELEGRAPH, CHRISTIAN TODAY & PREMIER - AUGUST 22 2016

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/21/church-of-england-warned-bishops-not-to-apologise-too-fully-to-s/

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishops.were.urged.not.to.apologise.fully.for.child.sex.abuse.to.minimise.liability.risk/93673.htm

http://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Church-of-England-told-bishops-not-to-apologise-to-victims-of-sex-abuse

CHURCH TIMES LETTER - MARILYN BILLINGHAM - AUGUST 19 2016

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/19-august/comment/letters-to-the-editor/letters-to-the-editor

Chichester needs to explain itself, publicly

Sir, — The police are to say sorry to the surviving niece of Bishop George Bell because they did not take steps to let her know that the investigation about her uncle’s alleged abuse of a child in the late 1940s was to be made public. This much has been reported accurately in the national press and in the press local to Chichester. The police said far more than this, however....
The people of Chichester diocese and your readers deserve a clear explanation about the basis on which the diocesan office made public this alleged uncorroborated crime that the police were not plan­ning to pursue, and why, despite this, they have continued to bes­mirch the reputation of a man who can no longer defend himself.

"FOLLOWING THE CHURCH TIMES LETTER REGARDING BISHOP BELL (AUG 19), THERE IS NOW A POWERFUL CASE FOR A SUSSEX POLICE INVESTIGATION REGARDING THE DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER" - RICHARD W. SYMONDS - THE BELL SOCIETY

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/following-the-church-times-letter-regarding-bishop-bell-aug-19-there-is-now-a-powerful-case-for-a-police-investigation-regarding-the-diocese-of-chichester-richard-w-symonds-the-bell-societ/

"CHICHESTER NEEDS TO EXPLAIN ITSELF, PUBLICLY" - CHURCH TIMES - LETTER - MARILYN BILLINGHAM OF CHICHESTER - AUGUST 19 2016

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/chichester-needs-to-explain-itself-publicly-church-times-letter-marilyn-billingham-august-19-2016/

"CATHOLIC DIOCESE FORKS OUT $1.2M AFTER 'SPOTLIGHT' LAWYER ACCUSES LEADERS OF ABUSE COVER-UP" - CHRISTIAN TODAY - AUGUST 16 2016

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/catholic.diocese.forks.out.1.2m.after.spotlight.lawyer.accuses.leaders.of.abuse.cover.up/93276.htm

BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE COVER-UP OF SEXUAL ABUSE EXPOSED BY THE BOSTON GLOBE 'SPOTLIGHT' TEAM IN 2002

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/14/sexual-abuse-cover-up-by-boston-archdiocese-and-beyond-exposed-in-2002/

FORMER CHIEF CONSTABLE ACCUSES CHURCH OF "GRAVE MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE" IN BISHOP BELL CASE

PREMIER NEWS - MARCH 2016

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/14/former-police/

"THOUGHTS ON AN INJUSTICE" - PETER HITCHENS ON BISHOP BELL - AUGUST 11 2016

"SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG HERE"

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/08/12/peter-hitchens-2/

"AUSTRALIA'S CATHEDRAL DEANS CALL FOR PREVENTION OF FURTHER ABUSE AFTER ROYAL COMMISSION" - CHRISTIAN TODAY (JAMES MACINTYRE) - AUGUST 9 2016

The deans of Australia's cathedrals have collectively expressed their regret at the damage caused by clergy and other church officials after hearing reports at their annual conference about the country's Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/australias.cathedral.deans.call.for.prevention.of.further.abuse.after.royal.commission/92728.htm