[Glenn.]

• Sexual abuse cover-ups – Multiple investigations, including the 2020 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), found that senior clergy repeatedly ignored or hid abuse by priests. Thousands of victims were failed, and some bishops protected abusers instead of children.

• Peter Ball case – Former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester. Convicted in 2015 of abusing young men and boys. Senior figures, including a former Archbishop of Canterbury, were accused of helping cover it up.

• Jonathan Fletcher and John Smyth – Prominent evangelical leaders linked to networks within the Church. Both accused of years of violent and sexual abuse. The Church admitted a pattern of enabling behaviour among leadership.

• Financial mismanagement – Criticism of how church funds and properties are handled. Some clergy lived lavishly while parishes struggled to stay open.

• Discrimination against women and LGBTQ people – The Church resisted female bishops until 2014. It continues to ban same-sex marriage in church despite public pressure and internal division. Gay clergy have been forced to hide their relationships or resign.

• Safeguarding failures – Reports show repeated mishandling of abuse claims, with whistleblowers silenced and victims re-traumatised.

• Racial inequality – In 2020 the Church’s own review called it “institutionally racist,” admitting decades of tokenism and exclusion of Black clergy.


ChUrCH of EnGlAnD iS a DiSgRaCE fOR tHiS

Don’t know why anyone is expected to take this seriously.