Victims of church-related abuse have criticised the former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby after he said he had forgiven the serial abuser John Smyth.
In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Justin Welby said he’d been “overwhelmed” by the number of abuse allegations coming into his office and he told of the "deep sense of personal failure" he feels about the way he handled the situation.
When asked whether he wanted Smyth’s victims to forgive him he said: “Obviously. But it’s not about me … I have never ever said to a survivor ‘you must forgive’ because that is their sovereign, absolute, individual choice. Everyone wants to be forgiven. But to demand forgiveness is to abuse again.”
On the issue of whether he could forgive Smyth he added: “Yes, I think, if he was alive and I saw him. But it’s not me he’s abused. He’s abused the victims and survivors. So whether I forgive or not is to a large extent irrelevant.”
Andrew Graystone, who has been an advocate for victims and survivors for many years, told Premier he was surprised Welby had given the interview and also by his comments:
“I was slightly puzzled that he did the interview at all," he said. “Only two people can forgive God and the person who has been harmed. So for Justin Welby to say that he forgives John Smyth is a bit like me saying I forgive Jimmy Savile.
"Jimmy Savile didn't harm me, and I think the former archbishop went on to say that it's only for victims and survivors to forgive, and I think that's the thrust of what he wanted to say."
He went on: “Forgiveness on the whole, is a good thing, but it's part of the painful process of putting things right between people, and that also involves honesty and humility and the paying of debts where that's possible.
“My concern is that the church hasn't begun to put things right for victims and survivors of John Smyth and so many others and until that happens, it's really too soon for anyone to start talking about forgiveness.”
During the interview Welby also said he was “profoundly ashamed” of his farewell speech in the House of Lords in which he appeared to make light of the suffering of abuse victims. But he denied it was a reflection of the church’s attitude towards the situation of ‘denying, delaying and denouncing’ the victims.
However, Graham, who is one of Smyth’s victims, said the interview frustrated him.
“There was an awful lot which just had me shouting at the screen saying: ‘No, no that’s just not right,'" he said.
“The church still is overwhelmed with abuse cases, it is no better at dealing with them.”
Graystone told Premier that senior church leaders need to make time to properly listen to and engage with survivors if church safeguarding is to improve.
“For me, the most important thing is that survivors are sufficiently loved and cared for by the church and enabled to rebuild their lives," he said.
"After that we can start talking about forgiveness. There's still a great deal to be done there.
“It will be painful on all sides, but the very first thing to do is a long and deep listening.
“I just wish that we could create a day where every bishop in the Church of England put a line through their diary for the day and said, ‘today, I'm going to go and sit with somebody who's been harmed in the church, and I'm going to listen'.
"I think that would be a tremendous healing not only for the victims and survivors, but also for those troubled leaders of the church who really don't know how to deal with this.”