Ex-archbishop of Canterbury resigns from honorary role after damning church abuse review

Former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has resigned from an honorary role he held within the Church of England after a damning review into the handling of the case of a bishop who abused young men.

The independent review, called Abuse Of Faith, looked at how the church dealt with the case of Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes.

Ball (pictured, right) was jailed for 32 months at the Old Bailey in 2015 after pleading guilty to a string of historical offences, including two counts of indecent assault.

Chaired by Dame Moira Gibb, the review found that “Ball’s conduct has caused serious and enduring damage to the lives of many men”.

It criticised Lord Carey (pictured, left), who was the archbishop of Canterbury at the time, and other senior figures, saying that their church was “most interested in protecting itself”.

The Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford said in a statement on Monday: “I have met with Lord Carey following the Archbishop’s letter to him.

“In light of Dame Moira Gibb’s review into the Peter Ball case, Lord Carey has resigned from his role as honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Oxford. Lord Carey has accepted the criticisms made of him in the Gibb review and has apologised to the victims of Peter Ball.”

The review stated: “Peter Ball betrayed his church and abused individual followers of that church.

“The church at its most senior levels and over many years supported him unwisely and displayed little care for his victims.”

The report found that Lord Carey was significantly involved in the way the church treated victim Neil Todd in 1992-1993.

Despite years of abuse in Sussex, Ball was able to leave the diocese in 1992 to take up his post as Bishop of Gloucester.

A year later, the then 16-year-old trainee monk Neil Todd prompted a police investigation which led to Ball’s resignation from the clergy.

Ball escaped with a police caution in 1993 for a single act of gross indecency against Mr Todd, who continued to be haunted by his treatment and took his own life in 2012.

Ball had an identical twin brother called Michael who was also a bishop. Lord Carey described the paedophile bishop as “basically innocent” and said he had a “very high” regard for him in a September 1993 letter to Bishop Michael.

The review, which said Lord Carey had played a leading role in enabling Ball to return to ministry, described this comment as “alarming”.

It added: “Ball was basically guilty and had admitted that. Lord Carey was also aware that the church had received further allegations of potentially criminal actions by Ball.”

When the review was published last week Lord Carey said he accepted the criticisms levelled towards him and apologised to Ball’s victims.

_{Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2017, All Rights Reserved.}