BY : Staff writer Christian Today
A dame who was sacked from the Church of England’s now defunct Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) has called for the Archbishop of York to follow the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in stepping down.
Welby resigned last week over failures in the handling of abuse by the late John Smyth, which the Makin Review said amounted to a “cover-up” by the Church of England. There have since been calls for others to follow suit.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera told the Mail on Sunday that the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, should also go.
She said she had repeatedly tried to raise concerns with Cottrell about safeguarding complaints and had pleaded with both Archbishops to re-open 12 cases dating from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Only one case was re-opened and she claims that her pleas were “ignored”.
“I sat down with both archbishops and poured my heart out, saying we need help. It went unheard – they have chosen to look the other way,” she said.
“The real currency of leadership is transparency and trust. Sadly, Stephen [Cottrell] has not demonstrated either with survivors.
“I believe stepping down is the most appropriate thing to do.”
She alleged that the response from the Archbishops was “appalling” and that when she sought to advocate for the needs of victims, it was “not very well received”.
“At every point, when we tried to get them to listen, we were ignored. There are people who are still in place who need to be held to account,” she said.
“There were sexual, physical and emotional allegations as well as bullying, intimidation and many going to the Church for a safeguarding response and being let down.
“This is about victims and survivors and doing the right thing. These victims are still waiting for closure and compensation.
“Some of their complaints are against very senior bishops.”
A spokeswoman for the Archbishop of York denied that he had “ignored” safeguarding concerns.
“The Archbishop has always taken safeguarding very seriously, particularly his commitment to victims and survivors, and he commends Dame Jasvinder’s work in this important area,” she said.
“But it is not true to say that these victims and survivors have been ‘ignored’.
“He believes the future of Church safeguarding needs independent structures and scrutiny while ensuring it remains everyone’s responsibility.
“The Archbishop deeply regrets the impact on victims following the disbandment of the ISB, which was a decision taken collectively by the Archbishops’ Council. This was due to a breakdown in relations with independent members.”
In a hugely controversial move, the ISB was disbanded last year and Dame Jasvinder was sacked with its two other members, Steve Reeves and acting Chair Meg Munn.
The decision was taken by the Archbishops’ Council which said at the time that working relationships with two ISB members had “broken down”.
In scathing comments to Synod soon after, Dame Jasvinder claimed they were sacked because “we were too independent”.
“We did our job too well and when I’m being told, and Steve is being told, that we are too survivor-led and too survivor-focused, I feel the Church has a problem,” she said.
Reeves also addressed Synod at the time, saying that when the Archbishops’ Council talks of independence, they do not mean it in the way that “you and I and the average person in the street means independence”.
“They mean semi-detached, not independent,” he said.
Archbishop Cottrell, who is the second most senior figure in the Church of England, has rejected calls for any more resignations after Welby stepped down last Tuesday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Archbishop Cottrell said that Welby’s resignation was enough “because he has resigned for the institutional failings”, and those involved in the cover-up were “not bishops”.
Photo: Church of England
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