Archbishop’s Sorrow For Child Abuse Victims

The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken of his ‘deep sorrow’ for the suffering of victims of child abuse involving the Church of England. Dr Rowan Williams was making his first statement since the jailing of Hampshire choirmaster Peter Halliday for sexually assaulting a boy 17 years ago.

The Church has been criticised for failing to tell police about the abuse. Williams admitted any case in which the Church failed to prove itself a safe place for children was ‘deplorable’. He said: ‘We can only express our keen awareness of the damage and deep sorrow for the suffering caused.

“The principle that the welfare of the child must always take priority has sometimes been misunderstood to mean that a child should not be put through the distress of public legal procedures…this misunderstanding may have been involved in this instance.”