What do these two deaths have in common? In the first place neither of them would have happened if the Church had taken more seriously reports of abuse and violence in the first instance. A case against each of the men involved, Peter Ball and John Smyth, had been established to a high level of probability. While Peter Ball may not have gone on to abuse further victims after his police caution in 1992, the refusal of Church authorities to inhibit his ministry must have preyed heavily on his existing victims. Neil Todd himself seems to have reached out many times asking to be heard, only to be ignored and pushed back. Whatever the precise reasons for his death we might reasonably say that he died suffering from the trauma of sexual abuse which was severely aggravated by institutional neglect on the part of the Church.
The second disturbing link between the two stories is in the way that the two perpetrators avoided justice. Ball eventually was sent to prison but Smyth has not yet faced a proper trial. Both kept away from courts through exercising their considerable social power. Letters supporting Peter Ball were written by people of high social standing to the Director of Public Prosecutions. There were apparently two thousand of these letters. The writers of these letters probably had no knowledge of whether Ball was guilty or not. They simply felt that it was wrong to accuse an apparently charming, charismatic and holy man of such terrible actions. The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, George Carey, also fell victim to the social charm exercised by Ball and allowed him to continue his ministry.
The facts as to how Peter Ball avoided justice for so long will be examined afresh in July at the IICSA hearings. Whether anything new remains to be revealed is another matter. A curious detail, yet to be explained, is why George Carey sent in a witness statement to IICSA claiming not to remember anything untoward about the Chichester Diocese during his tenure as Archbishop. I have no doubt that the question of the protection of Ball by many establishment figures will be commented on.
The Smyth affair is not due to have forensic examination by IICSA. Arguably though it is still a gaping wound in the church that has more to be revealed about it. There are simply too many unanswered questions. Some of the questions concern Archbishop Welby himself. He claims to have had no contact with the organisation that organised the Iwerne camps after he left for Paris in 1978. It is suggested that Welby returned on several occasions to give talks at these camps. According to Bishop Alan Wilson it is also inconceivable that Welby would not have known that Smyth had left Britain under a cloud. A report on Smyth’s behaviour was drawn up by Mark Ruston, an Anglican priest in 1982. Even though the accusations against Smyth were accepted by him as true, nothing was done to inform the authorities. Smyth was allowed to depart for Zimbabwe and later South Africa. Welby knew Ruston extremely well having had digs in his Cambridge Vicarage during his last year in Cambridge in 1978. The authorities at Winchester College were also fully aware of Smyth’s behaviour but again nothing was done to report this to the authorities. The whole secrecy surrounding the affair – something in which many must have colluded -has the aroma once again of an establishment cover-up. All the people involved from the boys themselves to the Trustees of the camps came from an elite group within British society. They also form a strong network within one powerful stratum of Anglican evangelicalism. Many of Iwerne’s ‘graduates’ occupy positions of high responsibility within Church and State and the whole affair has no doubt caused considerable embarrassment within these circles.
Two deaths of young men separated by twenty years. Both were preventable deaths if warnings of the evil behaviour on the part of two socially powerful individuals had been given earlier. One mourns these deaths, not in the sense of having known the individuals personally but because they represent and stand for the pain of many others who have been caught up in abuse cases before and after them. What are the common features in these stories?
First there was some toxic theology at work in both episodes. Toxic theology is like a fungus. It grows and flourishes in settings where groups of people collude together in unhealthy thinking. Ball’s theology was a distortion of an understanding of the monastic tradition. Smyth had a reading what true commitment to God involved and that included the ability and readiness to suffer pain.
Second. Both perpetrators were powerful individuals within the church. They were looked up to by many others and this afforded them protection from scrutiny both within the group and from the outside. Abuse was allowed to happen with ultimately tragic consequences.
Thirdly the stories show that evil selfish actions by individuals can result in tragedy of the worst kind. No one can ever pretend that sexual abuse or any other kind of abuse in the church has no consequences. It does and there is an obligation on all of us to fight abusive behaviour with every means available to us.
In this post we remember two individuals -victims of religiously inspired abuse. Their deaths lie at the door not only of their abusers. Those who kept secrets or covered up in any way for the abusers must share some of the blame for their deaths.
May Neil and Guide rest in peace and rise in glory.
Amen.
Thanks for the outline. I find it very helpful. May I disagree with one point? I don’t believe the physical abuse was anything to do with faulty theology. I have no evidence, but this old cynic’s belief is simply that Smyth got off on beating little boys until they bled. It was about abusive sex. That’s all.
It does beg the question about how it is that so many clergy, highly placed within the church, apparently have no fear of judgement. Don’t they actually believe all that stuff?
The same applies to the proverbial “good men who do nothing”. Who are of course often women. What are they going to say when they stand before the eternal throne and he says, ” Well?”
I have to say I agree with Athena that the underlying motive was not a theological one. It was about power and the need to control and humiliate others, and it had a sexual element to it. It’s quite possible, though, that Ball and Smythe had convinced themselves that their perverted and violent behaviour was theologically justified. As the psalmist said, ‘the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked’.
I see a number of similarities with the story of Dr. Bodkin Adams, the Eastbourne GP who was tried for murdering a number of his patients, and acquitted. He inherited , or otherwise obtained money from the estates of, most of the patients whose deaths were suspicious. There was a pretty widespread view that he was guilty, certainly in Eastbourne when I lived there. He died a year or so before I moved away.
Here’s the thing – Bodkin Adams moved in very influential social circles, including among leading members of the police and judiciary. Many experts believe the prosecution case against him was presented very badly and was doomed to failure. He was later convicted of several counts of fraud, forgery of prescriptions, and poor record keeping. Even so, he managed to continue practicing as a doctor after a relatively short spell of being removed from the medical register. And he was a lifelong practicing Christian, attending a local Plymouth Brethren assembly until his death.
He may have avoided justice in this life; we can’t know for certain. But he certainly won’t have avoided it in the next.
The same is true of Neil Todd and Guide Nyachuru. They too will at last have received justice, and God will himself have wiped every tear from their faces.
There is one thing worth pointing out. Back in the day, must be getting on for 40 years ago, I had some safeguarding training. I can’t for the life of remember why or by whom. But two things stood out. Firstly, that you should believe victims, on the grounds that children don’t know enough to lie. That, too has changed. The other thing was that you can’t do anything unless the victim agrees. You can see why, and you can see why that may be unhelpful. To be fair, though, you can’t go back over things that were treated in the way recommended at the time, and say they should have behaved the way we recommend now. Although I believe we should have mandatory reporting of crime, I can also see how in some extreme cases that could lead to the death of a victim. Either through suicide because they feel betrayed, or if an abusive step father for instance decides murder is the best protection. And if “reporting to the authorities” translates as reporting to the Diocesan safeguarding officer, they may be inept, unqualified and inexperienced. And if clergy, may be just as prone as anyone else to begin an investigation by phoning the accused. One safeguarding officer I knew was a clergy wife. She got the job probably because noone else wanted it. She left eventually, worn into the ground by clergy in training meetings giving her all sorts of crap along the lines of how silly and unnecessary it all was. I saw it for myself. Actually, she was rather good.
Thank you for your deeply respectful blog Stephen. Anyone who has been effected by suicide will know that whatever happens, whatever changes, nothing will bring their families peace or a sense of justice. The church destroyed more than the lives of Neil and Guide and may it forever be deeply ashamed.
Thank you for remembering them in this thoughtful and moving blog.
You refer to “institutional neglect on the part of the church” when talking about Neil Todd’s death. I think it probably goes further than this: it has been reported that Bishop Eric Kemp referred to Neil Todd as a “mischief-maker”.
One can only imagine how distressing such denigration would have been, especially so publicly and coming from someone such as Eric Kemp.
Facing these people down will take some guts for anyone. Reading what they say about you is going to be really painful.
Blessed are you when men persecute and revile you and say all kinds of evil against you… And no doubt they will. But be assured there are growing numbers of us watching closely who are determined not to let them get away with their tricks any more. Keep up the good work.
RIP Neil and Guide and unknown others. Let there be light!
Thank you ExChanged. I needed that just now.
Neil and Guide are now safe with God – but there are many who are not safe at all. We continue to pray for them. And let’s keep supporting each other!
Can I ask all our friends to pray for me? I have stuck my head above the parapet and accepted an invitation to preach! Five years it’s been. I really don’t know what the powers that be will think. Have a good rest, Janet.
I hope it goes well for you, English Athena; you have much wisdom to share.
Athena, you have my prayers, and I hope it goes very well for you.
Yes, praying for you all
Thanks all.
The preaching seems to have gone well. Thanks for everyone’s prayers. Two churches. I could see my breath on the air in both! But the welcome was warm and for a small congregation, six and nine, the singing was strong. One of the wardens laughed out loud at a joke, which is always encouraging. The choreography was chaotic, we had two wrong hymns involving starting again, in one case twice, and the celebrant read the wrong gospel at the first church! So far, no turbulence. I can’t remember exactly when it was I last preached, six years? I’ll wait and see.
Glad it went so well. Good on you.
Carey made the main news I see. I can’t think of anything to say. I know we were all more naive in those days. We didn’t use the same language. We thought people like Ball were weird, perhaps. Even creepy. But we didn’t think, “This guy is a Bishop and a monk and he is having sex. Sometimes with children” . I suppose it’s an improvement that we now do. Carey on the other hand carried on not believing victims, surely beyond the normal. He had some evidence that there was a case to answer. Why did he think his feelings were all the investigation that was needed? Mind you, in my experience, clergy still do. Not all of course, but it is so, so common.