The devastating toll of abuse on John Smyth’s own son
An extraordinary and powerful interview with PJ Smyth, the son of serial abuser John Smyth, outlines the abuse he himself suffered as a child from the age of seven and the terrible impact on his life since then. Through tears and distressing testimony, he tells Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, of how his abuse stopped abruptly in 1982 when the Ruston report was compiled, outing the abuse. Then the family moved to Zimbabwe because his father said he was called by God to “do the Lord’s work” there, an explanation he unquestioningly believed. He tells how his awareness of the abuse increased and affected his relationship towards his father, sisters, mother and himself. In the interview, he described his father as a “master manipulator whose abuse spanned 40 years in three different countries.” Despite this, PJ Smyth remained a preacher, church planter and pastor in the USA, until he stepped back in 2021 due to comments about his father’s abuse made in 2017. The interview is compelling and carries with it a warning of extremely distressing details, plus a reference to Channel 4’s support line.
Smyth review in Cape Town
The Church Times reports that there will be a review of whether the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, and his diocese, met their obligation to keep people safe in the light of John Smyth’s presence in the area. It reports that during a sermon preached at Emmanuel Church, Cape Town last Sunday, Dr Makgoba said that he was consulting church officials to work out the terms of reference of a review. Smyth worshipped in an Anglican church in Cape Town when he arrived there in 2001 and again before his death in 2018, on condition that he was not to get involved in any ministry or contact any young person.
Calls for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse
The National Secular Society is calling on the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to introduce a mandatory duty to report known or suspected child abuse. It says the 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended the UK introduce a mandatory reporting law without religious exemptions, but some Christian groups have sought to exempt disclosures of abuse made during confession. The Church of England has a working group on the “Seal of the Confessional”, considering whether confessions should be kept secret, noting that “further legislative steps by Government on mandatory reporting have yet to be announced”.
Archbishop of York urged to resign over safeguarding …
The two members of the Church of England’s Independent Safeguarding Board, who were sacked in 2023, have called for the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, to resign over safeguarding issues. Steve Reeves told The Telegraph that Archbishop Cottrell was unfit for such high office, claiming there was “no evidence” he had prioritised victims of abuse. This echoes comments by Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, made in the Mail on Sunday, that Stephen Cottrell had left victims “in the wilderness”. A spokesperson for the Archbishop of York told the Telegraph that he denied ignoring any victims and he regretted the impact on victims following the disbandment of the Independent Safeguarding Board, which was a decision taken by the Archbishops’ Council. Stephen Cottrell stepped in to placate extraordinary scenes over the dispute at the July synod in 2023.
Stephen Cottrell says responsibilities of Archbishop of Canterbury’s job need to be shared
The Archbishop of York has told The Guardian that the Church of England may need to rethink the role of archbishop of Canterbury. He would welcome a woman taking over from Justin Welby, but he warned that the responsibilities of the job may need to be shared more widely in future. Aged 66, he is unlikely to take on the role as the mandatory retirement age is 70. He said: “Sometimes archbishops are treated as if they’re the CEO of C of E plc, and that isn’t how we work. We are at our greatest and our strongest in our local communities, but we do need leadership and oversight… We need someone who can give at least five years, probably more like 10. So I don’t consider myself to be a candidate. That doesn’t change my commitment over the coming years, and I realise that for this next period, I am the person that people will look to.”
Polls show majority say Welby was right to resign
The results of a Flash YouGov poll indicate that two-thirds of those polled believe that Justin Welby was right to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury, following the publication of the Makin Report. The poll of 4541 adults was conducted last Thursday and has been published in the Church Times suggesting 62 per cent of those questioned thought the Archbishop had been right to resign with just 4 per cent saying he was wrong. Over a third (34 per cent) did not know. Another YouGov poll in the days before the resignation, suggested almost three-quarters said the Church had little to no influence on their lives, while half said it should be disestablished.
Other news
Zero tolerance for child abuse in Catholic church should extend across the globe
Survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse have urged the Vatican to adopt the same zero-tolerance policy that it approved for the US Catholic Church, for the rest of the world, arguing that there’s no reason why children everywhere shouldn’t be kept just as safe from predator priests. AP News reports that the “one strike and you’re out” policy was adopted by US Bishops following the revelations of abuse and subsequent cover-up in Boston. It said a priest would be permanently removed from church ministry based on even a single act of sexual abuse that is either admitted to or established under church law. Despite Pope Francis’ repeated calls for zero tolerance on abuse, his words have yet to lead to any real action,” said Gemma Hickey, a transgender survivor of abuse and the president of the global survivor network Ending Clergy Abuse
Only 87 per cent of schools meet legal obligation to teach RE
The National Association for Teachers in Religious Education (NATRE) has released the results of its new survey into religious education in primary schools which it says is the most comprehensive to date. The organisation says fewer schools are meeting their statutory duty to reach RE to all pupils with just 87 per cent doing so, compared to 96 per cent in 2022. It says that its greatest concern is that “too many primary teachers are not adequately prepared to teach RE – either in their initial teacher training or as part of their continuing professional development”. Teachers also reported a lack of confidence in delivering some aspects of the curriculum. NATRE says this needs to be addressed urgently by the Department for Education as part of a National Plan for RE. The report can be read in full here
Hate crime against Christians in Europe “triples in one year”
Hate crimes against Christians in Europe increased dramatically in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to a report by the Vienna-based watchdog, Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe). The UK, France and Germany are cited as countries of concern. In the UK incidents rose to more than 700, in France just under 1000 were reported and in Germany 277 – a rise of 105 per cent. The Vienna-based organisation says 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes were reported in 35 countries across Europe compared to 748 in 30 countries the previous year. The authors compiled data from police and civil society sources and range from harassment and threats to actual cases of physical violence. At least 1,230 anti-Christian hate crimes were allegedly committed by 10 of the European governments in 2023, an increase from 1,029 in 2022, said the report, titled “Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe Report 2024”.
US teenager leaves life of sport and music for life as a reincarnated Buddhist teacher
A teenage Buddhist lama, Jalue Dorje, has celebrated his 18th birthday at his home in a Minneapolis suburb, before joining his monastery in the Himalayan foothills. But this was not an ordinary coming-of-age celebration, it was an enthronement ceremony for an aspiring spiritual leader who from an early age was recognized by the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders as a reincarnated lama. According to The Independent, he grew up like a typical American teenager playing football and listening to rap music. Since the Dalai Lama’s recognition, Dorje has spent much of his life training to become a monk, memorizing sacred scriptures, practicing calligraphy and learning the teachings of Buddha. After graduation in 2025, he’ll head to northern India to join the Mindrolling Monastery, more than 7,200 miles from his home in Columbia Heights. Following several years of contemplation and ascetism, he hopes to return to America to teach in the Minnesota Buddhist community. His goal is “to become a leader of peace,” following the example of the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. “As a child, even on the weekend, you’re like: ‘Why don’t I get to sleep more? Why can’t I get up and watch cartoons like other kids.’ But my dad always told me that it’s like planting a seed,” he said, “and one day it’s going to sprout.”
Licence for unpasteurised milk the key to Trump’s success with the Amish
The Times throws the spotlight on how Elon Musk secured the Amish vote for Donald Trump in a community which has tended to avoid voting at elections for hundreds of years. The community itself estimates that up to 60 per cent of the Amish in the state voted this year, unanimously backing Trump. “We used to just pray for a better president because that was our way,” Amish poultry farmer Emmanuel Lantz said. “More and more now, we’re thinking you also have to act and go out and vote too.” According to the article, the initial spark centred around the case of Amos Miller, an Amish dairy farmer who refused to apply for a licence for his unpasteurised milk because he did not want state inspectors on his property. After two cases of E.coli poisoning were linked to his farm, it was raided and a judge banned him from selling raw milk anywhere in the state. Deprived of an income, the 46 year-old father of eight became a cause célèbre for the Amish. One of his neighbours, Suzy Esh said: “We’ve all supported Amos and kept him going.” She credits Miller as a major reason, adding: “I guess it was more important than ever before”. Elon Musk said in a TV interview last week. “They’re farmers. They’ve been farming the same way for a long time.” The intervention which shut down Miller and other farmers’ businesses “really made them pretty upset”, he said. Political campaigners have historically struggled to reach the Amish, who do not use television, radio or internet. Musk’s America super PAC (political action committee) spent $118 million to beat the Democrats’ superior ground operation across the seven swing states. The biggest chunk was used in Pennsylvania, where Musk also based himself.
The Vatican’s astronomer: The Big Bang idea was invented by a priest
Kaya Burgess, of The Times, has interviewed the Director of the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, in advance of his Von Hügel Lecture on Catholic thought at the University of Cambridge tomorrow, and his appointment in January as the president of the Meteoritical Society, a body promoting the study of meteorites, asteroids and planets. Space rocks are relics, he says, reminding you that that “light in the sky is a real place with real geology. It’s so exciting.” Calling for a truce in the argument that this is about “science v religion”, he says “You don’t have to be an atheist to believe in the Big Bang, which is convenient because the guy who invented the [concept] was a Catholic priest… Many Christians do not see God as a figure who simply lit a fuse. The God Hawking didn’t believe in may well be a [type of] God I don’t believe in either.” Article is here
