United Kingdom: report on Church abuse. Public apologies from archbishops Welby and Cottrell

(London) “We are extremely sorry for the shameful way in which the Church behaved, and we undertake to listen to, learn and act to respond to the findings of the report”. With these words, the two archbishops at the head of the Church of England, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, publicly apologised the day before the publication of the findings of the State inquiry into the abuse. The inquiry started in 2015 and investigated the leaders of several institutions, including Westminster, to find out how the abuse could happen and to suggest facilities that can prevent it occurring again. Today’s report deals with the abuse committed by bishop Peter Ball, who died last year, and in the diocese of Chichester, where, quoting from the survey, “the abuse was so widespread it had become the norm”. “As a Church of England, we are ready to support every victim, and we must keep our promise to change”, the two archbishops’ open letter says. “The survivors told us that words without actions are meaningless. We are acting but we are also aware that our actions are too little too late”. “We ask you to pray for all those who will be involved in today’s report and so that we can keep working for a Church that can be said to be safe for everyone”, Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell concluded.
Valentina Bombelli