George Carey (pictured) has spoken for the first time about his treatment by Welby regarding his handling of allegations against Bishop Peter Ball
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has attacked his successor Justin Welby for sacking him from an honorary post over the way he dealt with a high-profile sex scandal.
In a Christmas letter to friends, Lord Carey has spoken for the first time about his treatment by the Most Rev Welby regarding his handling of allegations against Bishop Peter Ball.
The 82-year-old lashed out at the ‘unjust’ request for him to step down over his supposed failings 24 years ago.
Peter Ball, former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was released from jail in February after serving 16 months for grooming and abusing 18 vulnerable men between 1977 and 1992.
An independent inquiry criticised the Church of England’s handling of the case, finding it had colluded with Ball rather than trying to help those he harmed.
The Church, at the highest levels, had appeared to be most concerned with ‘protecting itself’, the report said.
As a result, Archbishop Welby made an unprecedented request in June of asking Lord Carey to ‘carefully consider his position’ as honorary assistant bishop in the diocese of Oxford.
In his letter, Lord Carey writes of ‘the shocking insistence by the Archbishop that I should stand down from ministry “for a season” for mistakes he believes were made 24 years ago…his decision is quite unjust and eventually will be judged as such’.
Pope Francis (left) receiving the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (right) during an audience at the Vatican, 27 October 2017
Although written in November, the letter was sent out at the weekend. It comes at the end of a turbulent week for the Church after Archbishop Welby was criticised over how he dealt with sex allegations against George Bell.
He refused to clear the respected former bishop of Chichester, even though an independent review concluded Bishop Bell’s reputation had been destroyed as the Church ‘rushed’ to accept claims he was a paedophile on the say-so of one accuser almost 60 years after his death.
A damning independent inquiry was later published and criticised the Church of England’s handling, finding that it had ‘colluded with Ball rather than trying to help those he had harmed.
In particular, it found that the case had been dealt with at the highest level of the church – concluding that it had appeared to be most concerned with ‘protecting itself’.
Peter Ball, former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was released from jail in February after serving 16 months for grooming and abusing 18 vulnerable men between 1977 and 1992
As a result, Archbishop Welby made an unprecedented request of asking Lord Carey to ‘carefully consider his position’ honorary assistant bishop in the diocese of Oxford in June.
In the letter, he writes: ‘Less desirable has been the shocking insistence by the Archbishop that I should stand down from ministry “for a season” for mistakes he believes were made 24 years ago when Bishop Peter Ball abused young potential priests.
‘His decision is quite unjust and eventually will be judged as such.’
He added: ‘Just as well, then, that we are surrounded by a large and wonderful family who give us great support and pleasure.’
Though it was written in November, the letter – titled ‘Greetings from The Careys 2017’ – was only sent out this weekend.
It comes at the end of a turbulent week for the church after Archbishop Welby also came under fire for how he dealt with sex allegations against George Bell.
He refused to clear the respected former bishop of Chichester, despite being cleared by an independent review which concluded that his reputation had been destroyed.
Last week, it concluded that the Church had ‘rushed to judgment’ in besmirching the respected Bishop of being a paedophile on the say-so of one accuser almost 60 years after his death.
Archbishop Welby faced calls to apologies after a statement put out following the report apologies for only ‘the failures of the process’ and for reiterating that Bell had been ‘accused of great wickedness’
A spokesman for Lord Carey refused to comment on the criticism, according to The Telegraph.
However, last year he wrote a letter to Bishop Bell’s niece that said he was ‘frankly appalled by the way the Church authorities have treated his memory’.
In the letter, Lord Carey also explained to recipients why the family did not send a festive missive last year.
It said: ‘Mark, our son, had just been falsely accused of historic charges of abuse dating back nearly 40 years to when he himself was a young teenager.
‘It was always ridiculous but it was a very painful and difficult time.’
It said that it was a ‘cruel, brutal and humiliating’ experience for his son, who has now been exonerated and is Vicar of Christ Church, Bridlington.