JUSTICE FOR BISHOP GEORGE BELL OF CHICHESTER

"CHURCH OF ENGLAND DEFENDS ITS HANDLING OF BISHOP GEORGE BELL ABUSE CASE" - CHRISTIANITY TODAY - JULY 13 2016

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.of.england.defends.its.handling.of.bishop.george.bell.abuse.case/90517.htm

The Church of England today defended its approach to the case of Bishop George Bell, who was accused of being a paedophile 37 years after his death....
Bell's condemnation as a paedophile was then challenged by a group of lawyers, academics, politicians and senior Church figures. They wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year, and also circulated a document in defence of Bell to members of the General Synod meeting in York last weekend.
In a letter today to those objecting, Bishop Paul Butler, Church of England lead bishop on safeguarding, says the Church was right to settle the claim.

[Bishop Paul Butler is no longer Lead Bishop on Safeguarding - Ed]

THE GEORGE BELL GROUP (GBG)

http://www.georgebellgroup.org/

The definitive guide to what is going on...

WHO WE ARE

STATEMENT

REVIEW

RESOURCES

We (the GBG) are an independent group whose members represent a concentration of experience in public life, in the fields of law, policing, politics, journalism, academic research and church affairs. This group began to meet in response to the 22 October statement issued by the Church of England about Bishop George Bell. See this BBC report for the full story.

We are now publishing our analysis of the way in which the allegation against Bishop Bell has been handled by the authorities of the Church....

THE BELL PETITION REACHES ITS TARGET OF 2000+ SIGNATURES

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/the-bell-petition-reaches-its-2000-target/

Justice for Bishop George Bell of Chichester

2,069 signatures

To: The Archbishop of Canterbury

(1) To call on the Church of England to allow a fuller investigation before considering the case against Bishop Bell closed. This includes re-examining the evidence against Bishop Bell.

(2) To ensure fair and just procedures are in place for the future.

LORD LEXDEN'S REVIEW OF "GEORGE BELL, BISHOP OF CHICHESTER" BY ANDREW CHANDLER - THE HOUSE MAGAZINE - 8 JULY 2016 - WWW.POLITICSHOME.COM

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/lord-lexden/

In just under 200 ‘incisive, elegantly
written pages’, Andrew Chandler’s
biography of George Bell recounts the
remarkable life of a man of high ideals,
writes Lord Lexden...

George Bell, Bishop of
Chichester
By Andrew Chandler
Wm. B.Eerdmans
Publishing Co.

COMMENT BY SIMON S (PETITION - REASON FOR SIGNING)

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/justice-for-bishop-george-bell-of-chichester#_=_

"Sexual abuse being covered up is evil. It is also evil to undermine the presumption of innocent until proven guilty"

“‘NO CONFIDENCE’ MOTION ABOUT BELL AFFAIR CIRCULATED TO SYNOD" - THE CHURCH TIMES - JULY 8 2016

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/the-church-times/

BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS TAKES OVER AS NEW 'SAFEGUARDING BISHOP'

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/bishop-of-bath-and-wells-takes-over-as-safeguarding-bishop/

Bishop of Bath and Wells, Peter Hancock, takes over the role of ‘Safeguarding Bishop’ from the Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler.

https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2016/07/parish-role-in-safeguarding-vital,-says-cofe-lead-bishop.aspx

PETER HITCHENS - MAIL ON SUNDAY - JULY 10 2016

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2016/07/peter-hitchens-want-to-see-who-started-the-iraq-war-look-in-the-mirror.html

"The campaign for justice for the late Bishop George Bell goes on. Bell has been denounced by Church and media as a child abuser without the semblance of a trial. This was recently the main subject of a powerful debate in the House of Lords. The Church’s response, as ever, was to use the alleged victim as a human shield. Arrayed in his flowing clerical robes, in a chamber where all speak ‘upon their honour’, the consecrated Bishop of Chelmsford asserted that campaigners for justice for George Bell had ‘made hurtful comments about her’ (the alleged victim). Have they? I have challenged him to say who these people were and what these comments were. He has not replied, though the Church press office has emitted some irrelevant and evasive guff"

https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre.aspx

LETTER FROM BISHOP BELL GROUP TO ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY - JULY 7 2016 - RECEIVED THE DAY BEFORE THE GENERAL SYNOD IN YORK

https://wordpress.com/stats/insights/richardwsymonds.wordpress.com

F.A.C.T. - FALSELY ACCUSED CARERS & TEACHERS (AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS)

https://twitter.com/FACTukorg
@FACTukorg

When an allegation of abuse is made there is always a victim. If true, the person abused. If untrue, the accused and their family. Justice needed all round.

GEMS OF THOUGHT - THE BISHOP BELL COLLECTION OF QUOTATIONS

"One of the most monstrous offences against religion is to regard Christianity as utterly unrelated to present-day life"

~ George Bell (on becoming Bishop of Chichester in 1929)

https://richardwsymonds.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/gems-of-thought-the-bishop-bell-collection-of-quotations/

MARTIN SEWELL - MEMBER OF THE GENERAL SYNOD - HOUSE OF LAITY

"A Church that can use secrecy to avoid accountability (even if it has reached a correct conclusion ) is practiced and able to use those same techniques when it is in the wrong.
A major duty of General Synod is to hold the Church Establishment to account when it prefers not to be transparent. I ask you to help us in asserting that important role in this case...
If we promote transparency, we should practice what we preach"

~ Martin Sewell

http://archbishopcranmer.com/synod-no-confidence-motion-looms-in-the-secret-trial-of-bishop-george-bell-rip/

"SYNOD 'NO CONFIDENCE' MOTION LOOMS IN THE SECRET TRIAL OF BISHOP GEORGE BELL" BY 'ARCHBISHOP CRANMER'

http://archbishopcranmer.com/synod-no-confidence-motion-looms-in-the-secret-trial-of-bishop-george-bell-rip/

A letter is currently circulating to members of the General Synod (this weekend - Ed), in the hope of issuing a Motion of No Confidence (early next year - Ed). Former solicitor Martin Sewell, the author of the letter, emphasises that there is no personal attack on the Bishop of Chichester, Martin Warner, but rather a challenge to the culture of secrecy which he is intent on defending.

Dear Synod Colleague,
I am writing to you to ask that you give consideration to supporting a Private Member’s Motion [PMM] which my legal colleague, David Lamming, and I are seeking to have debated at the next Synod in February 2017. To do so we shall need 100 signatures from Synod members....

HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE - JUNE 30 2016 - BISHOP BELL & HISTORICAL CHILD SEX ABUSE - MOTION BY LORD LEXDEN

https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2016-06-30/debates/16063032000573/HistoricalChildSexAbuse

That this House takes note of the case for introducing statutory guidelines relating to the investigation of cases of historical child sex abuse.

Investigations...conducted in secret by unnamed experts under processes that are unknown, led the Church to the conclusion that it ​should settle a civil claim arising from a single allegation of child sexual abuse in the late 1940s and early 1950s...The Church of England authorities must recognise that decisions reached behind closed doors by secret processes simply will not pass muster in this age of much-vaunted transparency...I must finally stress that the Bishop Bell case needs fundamental reconsideration.

XYZ321 COMMENT ON CHURCH'S NEW INDEPENDENT REVIEW - JUNE 29 2016

It's hard to understand why the 'terms of reference' of the review have not been given if the review is 'routine'. A routine review would have routine terms of reference. If every case is different, there are still the two basic requirements of thoroughness andimpartiality. The church must commit itself to these.

But there's another point. The original investigation caused an uproar because the church expected the public to take its findings on trust. Will we be expected to do the same for the new independent review if it confirms the findings of the original investigation ?
There's an obvious need to keep the claimant's - the alleged victim's - identity out of the public arena. But a review that's wrapped in secrecy will do nothing to reassure the public. The frustration over the original investigation will just be repeated.