29 thoughts on “A Song from Ireland in support of Survivors of Church Abuse”

1. Thank you, Stephen, for posting this wonderful Irish song for survivors, and the eloquent commentary by Prof. Martyn Percy. Its a tribute to such world class Irish musicians to take up this cause, and Prof. Percy’ statement exposes is the “‘project-managed-persecution’ run by senior clergy and church lawyers”, with the same old names of Luther Pendragon and Winckworth Sherwood coming up again and again. This is deliberate, organised destruction of human beings who have told the truth about the CofE, and these agents of the dark arts and warfare are lavishly paid for by what is supposed to be the foremost regulated charity and the established Church. I’d encourage this case to be taken up with the state regulators by Prof. Percy, yourself Stephen and friends and allies across the survivor community.

   1. Surely it is actually much worse than the Statement outlines? In Feb/Mar 2020 Winckworth Sherwood and Luther Pendragon started to proactively place “safeguarding concerns” stories in the media re Martyn Percy. They tried to infiltrate and influence the NST Core Group. Winckworth Sherwood also tried to get Prof. Percy investigated by the Police.

      The people behind this at Christ Church included senior clergy. The Bishop knew this, yet he did nothing. Despite six “safeguarding concerns” being originated, curated and promoted by Winckworth Sherwood and Luther Pendragon in six months, he sat on his hands.

      Yet there were never ever any first-hand complainants about Prof. Percy. This was not even muck-raking. The lawyers were making their own muck and spreading it themselves with PR agents. Martyn Percy was eventually exonerated by the NST in September 2020. Weeks later, a seventh “concern” was launched.

      The Bishop stated this was very serious, and emphatically repeated it was “nothing to do with the previous six”. [How could he know?] But he decided he could say that in public and issue a statement. But consider the facts:

      1. Winckworth Sherwood drew up the terms of reference for this new 7th investigation, yet decided to conceal this, and repeatedly tried to hide their involvement. The Winckworth Sherwood-run Kate Wood investigation made sure the Dean never had key evidence examined or his witnesses interviewed. You have to ask why would a law firm for the Diocese conceal its involvement in an investigation against its own Cathedral Dean?

      2. Winckworth Sherwood worked with senior Diocesan officers and clergy to manufacture the “risk assessments” against Prof. Percy, that maintained he was a threat to all young women, staff, students, etc. The officers all then denied involvement, saying they had done an “assessment of risk but not a ‘risk assessment’, which was different”. This was and is the Bishop of Oxford’s position. Yet the document is marked ‘Risk Assessment’ throughout, and was used to enforce a regime of draconian house arrest on the Dean. Senior clergy participated in this. NST said nothing.

      3. Winckworth Sherwood had been involved at every single stage of the previous campaigns against Prof. Percy since 2019. So had the senior clergy. The lawyers confirmed that whilst Dean, and a serving clergyman, had accepted a legal instruction to “act against the Dean”, and regarded that as proper. Likewise, unleashing Luther Pendragon on Prof. Percy. The Bishop of Oxford continues to support and express his confidence in them all. Both Archbishops do nothing about this, despite having all of the evidence, including emails and other disclosures.

      This is the kind of misconduct that defines corruption. Yet the NST, ISB, Archbishops, Archbishops’ Council and the Diocese of Oxford all insist that there is nothing amiss. We think that safeguarding in the CofE is inherently corrupt and incompetent. And the evidence is…

      1. This article and thread is about Winckworth Sherwood and Luther Pendragon who in work for the Church of England. The song and the press release are about their persecution of others in the name of the church. Martyn is a victim of these lawyers and the PR company. These are facts.

         I have known Martyn for 42 years through our family. Geri is short for Geraldine. I am now a Dutch National. My name does not work as an anagram for meanderings. Unless this is another example of the UK going it’s own way after Brexit?

      2. Please remove this comment – it is defamatory and abusive.

   2. For sure it’s a beautiful and moving song, and reading the YouTube description of this tragic case is heartbreaking. I hope it gives comfort to survivors who are isolated and suicidal. Interesting also to see CofE abuse now going international with the Ireland dimension.

      Unfortunately, in my experience the problem isn’t just the Church/bishops but also the small clique who tend to dominate media and purport to speak for Church survivors – while ignoring cases like this one which I’d even never heard of before, and many other cases and victims. You just hear the same survivor names over and over in the press and TV, or they’re busy running around having oh-so-important meetings with bishops and getting their faces on to Church-led survivor committees. Some of these usual suspects are clerics/laity still broadly loyal to the institutions of the CofE, and others are even accepting awards from Justin Welby for their great work, which is simply a betrayal.

      Like the colonial empires of old the Church of England is highly skilled at manipulating “divide and rule” and handpicking the survivors it will talk to, while simultaneously ignoring or persecuting other survivors. Unfortunately we are our own worst enemy as the survivor community is so divided, with the “elite” Church/other survivors acting as self-appointed gatekeepers to decide which other survivors are “good enough” to associate with them and their clique or offer support to.

      It leaves the rest of us who are not “in” with these networks rather cynical about the whole thing. Anyhow, on a happier note, it’s great to see the nastiness of CofE abuse inspiring arts and culture in this charming way.

2. The extract from the Church of England newspaper, dated April 2021, refers to CDM proceedings against Sarah Mullaly, Bishop of London, and Revd William Campbell Taylor. Any update on how those went?

3. This is a moment of history in safeguarding and Church of England abuse. A very beautiful and powerful song by great artists, with a very eloquent and damning commentary by a great academic. Archbishop Justin Welby will have respond to this.

   1. You say Welby will have to respond, yet when he himself is in the spotlight, even then you will not get a response. It is not disputed he was told about John Smyth, his friend, in 2013. We now know also that he was tipped off in 1983. John Smyth continued to abuse and was not stopped by the Church, but by the media.

      This is all undisputed. Yet has this meant he “will have to respond to this”. Absolutely not. Silence. And, nine years after he was told fully about the abuse by John Smyth, we still do not have his account of what he did or did not do.

      Welby will ignore this song ( unless forced to issue a mealy mouthed statement of claimed support) as he has ignored the injustices done to hundreds of victims. Head in the sand ? Hoping it will all go away ? Pretending none of us exist ?

      I wish you were right and he was forced to respond.

      1. Very sad to say you’re probably right about Archbishop Justin Welby. He condemns the likes of Luther Pendragon as “aggressive PR companies” but according to Prof. Martyn Percy, he apparently engages them himself.

         Bishop Sarah Mullally’s track record in safeguarding has been truly shocking, from the harassment and suicide of Fr Alan Griffin now to the harassment and attempted suicide of Survivor N. Her failure to implement the Elliott Review on safeguarding vulnerable adults, her employment of Luther Pendragon and Winckworth Sherwood which toxic outfits Prof. Percy describes…

         Also the track record on safeguarding of Bishop Sarah Mullally

         1. Stephen’s blog also covers current complaints to the Charity Commission by activist lawyers. One abuse lawyer, Richard Scorer, comments that if the Church of England were a school it would have been shut down. Some background on the case referred to in the Irish song is given on its YouTube description and online:

            https://www.churchofenglandblog.com/post/william_campbell-taylor

            https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/william-campbelltaylor-father-william-taylor–983544006092354474/

            The abuse cases with John Smyth and Jonathan Fletcher are likewise appalling. But the fact is the rebranded Titus Trust still has among its trustees some individuals who are thoroughly embedded in defending Evangelical institutions at all cost, and brutally silencing critics.

            So it isn’t just Lambeth and the Church of England hierarchy…Conservative Evangelical institutions are all too happy to abandon “Bible-centred” Christianity to savagely defend godless cultic institutions.

         2. Sadly, I have an “online friend” who had safeguarding dealings with Bishop Mulally before she was translated to London, and found her supportive and kind. You wonder what happens.

            1. Lawyers, probably.

      2. I think you are right, and that Archbishop Justin knows that he will be permitted to get away with ignoring serious issues. For instance, he has studiously ignored my request, because I am blind, for assistance to file cdm for almost a year. Instead of complying with the Equality Act, he obdurately ignores it, hoping that he will get away with it with the support of other senior clerics. Those needing a response from the Archbishop of Canterbury are very unlikely to receive an appropriate one, and many will not receive one at all. Perhaps the Archbishop believes silence is golden. It has certainly worked for him so far.

4. It is probably correct that the media first brought matters to the attention of the British public in the television documentary in 2017, but it is not correct to say that the abuse was stopped by the media. John Smyth’s abuse in Zimbabwe came to an end due to the combined courageous intervention of Zambezi Ministries in Bulawayo and the lawyer author of the Coltart Report where this is documented. That was as early as October 1993. This ‘confidential’ document is now in the public domain, accessible from Google:

   http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/970485/27843432/1519927496303/The%2BColtart%2BReport%2Bon%2BJohn%2BSmyth%2B1982.pdf?token=nqmLLZs%2Bje0cC8clk%2FP2kbazlSs%3D

   So I think a fair summary of what happened in Africa is provided by Mr Coltart’s report. Smyth had also by then formally left the C of E. There was a hiatus of knowledge, so far as the British public are concerned, until the 2017 documentary.

   I’m not sure whether the C of E’s long-awaited Makin Report will cover the African end of Smyth’s activities. Smyth had, effectively, left the UK by 1980, I think, although he occasionally returned to appear as Counsel in trials in London involving issues of morality, his usual instructing client being Mrs Mary Whitehouse. His whole life was a paradox.

   To be clear, I am not making any comment about Archbishop Welby. As you say, those answers can only come from him.

   1. To be clear, this was a reply to Graham Munro, specifically about the John Smyth case.

   2. I understand the Makin Report will not cover Smyth’s activities in Africa.

      Rowland, I’m interested you say that Smyth ‘formally left’ the C of E. Can you say when and how he did this? I presume his Lay Reader’s licence lapsed some time after Smyth moved to Africa, but I didn’t know there was any mechanism for formally leaving the Church.

      1. An interesting question, and I will need to research my source, one of the various reports (but evidently not the Coltart report) which contained this statement. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Mr Smyth transferred his allegiance to local churches in Zimbabwe. But I recall Archbishop Welby questioning whether Smyth was [still?] an Anglican; I have just located his words as reported in 2021 “I believe that by 2013 Mr Smyth was no longer attending an Anglican Church”. It caused comment at the time. Agreed that this is not the same thing as having left the C of E by any formal steps.

         1. Thanks Rowland.

            Of course, Abp Welby had previously stated that Smyth was not an Anglican, at a time when Smyth was not only attending an Anglican Church, but was a licensed Lay Reader (as they were then called) in Winchester Diocese.

5. I think this is an interesting cultural development and one the Church needs to appreciate quickly.

   In the social media age the old strategies don’t work anymore. Survivors were once weak and easily containable, isolated, demoralised, and fearful but we live in a different age.

   Communication is leaner and campaigners fleeter of foot. It’s like David who didn’t attempt to use the heavy armour offered to match Goliath, but turned to the weapons he knew – a sling shot and pebbles and deployed them to devastating effect.

   Appreciating that survivors are better supported, and in communication with a hinterland of shared experience and resource leads to this kind of powerful response to perceived injustice.

   Institutions have always struggled with such asymmetrical tactics and are best advised not to attempt to. The solution can only be to be so transformative in response that these initiatives cease to be needed.

   We are back to my core principles of “transparency and accountability”. Demonstrating clean open process , a commitment to properly evaluating the complaints fairly impartially and using systems beyond reproach, is not only the pragmatic answer, it is the fundamentally Christian one.

6. This beautiful creative song and video are a moving contribution to the ongoing struggle to get the institutional church to recognize what they are doing/ and not doing.

   I found the third verse especially important where the female jogger is acting compassionately and humanely (normally) to save N – here is the good samaritan – unlike the lawyers and church hierarchy passing by on the other side.

   The powerful image in the video of the crucified figure on the hill reminded me again of Neil Todd – who so terribly sadly took his life 10 years ago – overwhelemd by stress and fear – too vulnerablw to the further and inevitable abuse from church authorities and Peter Ball’s endless and devious machinations.

   Sometimes things just get too hard to bear – this website has to be above all else a place of compassion – to victims and survivors.

   1. Yes, I found it powerful too, particularly the images.

7. Some potentially defamatory comments have been removed. I also reserve the right to remove remarks that can be considered personal.

8. Alannah, Geri has made it clear that she is not Martyn Percy, she is a person in her own right.

   Have a good day.

   1. I’m sorry, Stephen keeps deleting my responses. If you want a full explanation of why these comments are from Martyn, then please contact me on Twitter – more than happy to answer but Stephen won’t let me.

9. Everyone commenting upon the concluded Percy allegation must have the integrity to acknowledge that the President of Tribunals ruled that each party was “equally credible”. To be clear, this means she was no more credible than he was nor he – she

   Further, the payment which she accepted to withdraw her claim came from the College not the then Dean. She could have taken the matter to the Employment Tribunal where both she and Dr Percy would have faced cross examination of their respective evidence. Ms Jeune is not to be criticised for not doing so, but the choice not to have the issue independently adjudicated was hers, under advice as to the balance of litigation risk. That is not insignificant, neither is it improper to point out who chose not to bring the matter to trial.

   That is now a concluded issue that can be taken no further. The allegation is unproven at her own election.

   That imposes no duty of silence on Dr Percy, who is now, separately, entitled to ask for a proper inquiry into the collateral matters which are of intense interest and value to survivors and bullied clergy alike. Both cohorts recognise elements of their own institutional maltreatment within Dr Percy’s complaints.

   These issues need to be fully and comprehensively investigated. The initial CofE response is unravelling. The ISB has been increasingly revealed to be neither independent nor competent for the task. Those against whom these allegations are made have commissioned the review, and the terms of reference ignore the principal issues of which Dr Percy complains. This is cover -up.

   The Percy case is the best attested case study of poor Church practice in this field. There is a comprehensive contemporaneous written record of the various parties’ positions and actions; unlike the tragic case of Fr Alan Griffin, the victim of the alleged bullying is still alive.

   Rather than pretending that that these are not important issues, all who wish to reform the Church,whether survivor or bullied clergy, should be joining us in the entirely neutral call that there be a wholly independent review of the Percy complaint undertaken by someone of equal independence and competence to the President and the Employment Tribunal members . What possible objection can anyone have for that?

   1. Martin, although you think you are well-informed about my case, you are not. You have never spoken to me nor bothered to hear my evidence or version of events. You only know what Martyn Percy has told you.

      Regarding the Employment Tribunal – yes I settled. As do most women taking out a sexual complaint. There is a massive financial difference between Martyn and I, do you really think it would be possible for me to take him all the way to a court hearing? The man was crowd-funding on top of his huge salary. I did not have the resources to go up against that, so I settled. Believing (clearly naively) that Martyn would have the grace and dignity to resign, leave the College and rebuild his life quietly and without public fuss. He did not choose that route and continues to harass and abuse me. Are you really going to try and say that settling a case indicates something negative about me or my claim?

      My case does reveal Church incompetence – the inability to deal with a powerful, well-connected and bullying perpetrator.

      I have nothing to fear from any inquiry and have answered every official question put to me – I think though any inquiry that is allowed to properly investigate and conclude (none have happened so far) will reveal some uncomfortable truths…. for example, do you want to be totally transparent and explain how you came into possession of my confidential paperwork (including my witness statement to the police disclosing my feelings about being assaulted) by the end of 2020?

10. I do not accept that you were financially disadvantaged in your litigation. There are many highly competent firms working on a ” No win – No fee” basis – indeed it’s the norm. The problem is that they require a reasonable hope of a successful outcome and In a classic ” he said/ she said” case as is often the case, certain cases are unprovable. That is unfortunate but a reality of life.

    I have seen too many people harm themselves by not accepting that simple truth: I do not enjoy the spectacle.

    Further, you repeatedly asserting that a sexual assault happened is not to be encouraged. There are objective criteria for classifying allegations of which the President is fully aware and would not have consigned your unproven allegation to the ” not per se serious misconduct category “, had she read the evidence as you (mistakenly) insist. It is not edifying.

    Your allegations have been considered by wholly independent parties; you made a decision to withdraw the case – as you were entitled to do on receipt of monies from the Christ Church Charity. I am happy you should have had something for being inevitably sucked into their project to oust the Dean. Theirs was a dishonourable project and it is being rightly investigated by the Charity Commission. Nothing to do with you personally.

    Clergy and lawyers were also involved in the Bullying Just as your allegation deserve due process so does Dr Percy’s. The Charity Commission and Solicitors Regulation Authority are taking this matter seriously. A specific complaint to the Royal College of Physicians has already been upheld. I am not a vexatious complainant

    Setting aside your grievance, it is clear that those things of which Dr Percy complains about the Church are entirely congruent with the experiences and concerns of others, complainants and respondents alike. This is why Dr Percy is rightly receiving support across the board in pressing for these serious structural institutional malpractices to be addressed either by the Charity Commission or an independent judicial figure with expertise and true independence – not the clown car ISB inquiry which carries the confidence of nobody except those who want to cover up.

    I hope you will feel able to join the call for these wider important issues to be addressed through this well documented test case and considered by someone of unimpeachable impartiality and competence. Who knows , your dismissal of the concerns may be proved right – I doubt it but let’s have it determined properly

    We want the Church procedures under the microscope for the benefit of many many others. It’s not all about you

    1. So you are explaining my own case and legal representation to me? wow

       You have no idea on what basis my lawyers were employed. Nor what advice they gave me.

       Those were not the terms on which I settled my claim – you have no idea as you were not part of the litigation.

       Are you saying I was in a financially equitable position to Martyn Percy? That is a comment from a person of privilege who has no idea about the realities of those of us who do not have wealth and privilege.

       Are you telling me I shouldn’t say I was sexually assaulted? Because I was – again, you were not there. You are no advocate for survivors if you think it is ok for you to decide whether or not I was assaulted.

       Are you telling me to ‘join’ the man who assaulted me to hold the Church to account? You cannot be serious. Martyn Percy lied about assaulting me, why would I (or anyone else) trust him.

       It’s not all about me. I have never said it was.
       It is about women who are sexually harassed at work.
       It is about women who are sexually assaulted by powerful men.
       It is about women who make legitimate complaints and are then victimised for doing so.
       It is about cover-ups to protect powerful men.
       It is about networks of people within the Church protecting and supporting men who sexually assaulted a woman.
       It is about inequality.
       It is about Power.

11. This discussion is now closed

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