Former archbishop of York resigns over child abuse case
David Hope, the former archbishop of York, England
Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:41PM GMT
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The
former archbishop of York has resigned from formal ministry following a
report into allegations of child abuse that revealed systemic failures
by the Church of England in tackling the issue.
David Hope resigned from his position as an honorary assistant bishop
on Thursday after a report published last week showed he failed to
follow policy over complaints against the late Dean of Manchester Robert
Waddington, who allegedly abused boys in the United Kingdom and
Australia.The report said opportunities were missed when Lord Hope, from Thornes, West Yorkshire, failed to start an investigation into child abuse allegations, which may have led to a prosecution before Waddington’s death seven years ago.
“We consider the failings of Lord Hope were cumulative over the period, and arose as a result of Lord Hope not following the Church’s policies and instead dealing with a child protection issue in what appears to have been the way he would deal with a disciplinary matter or complaint,” said Judge Sally Cahill QC, the author of the report.Waddington is accused of abusing choirboys and school pupils in York, Manchester, London, Carlisle and Australia, over five decades.
The allegations were first made to the Church of England in 1999 but dated back as far as the 1950s.
The UK has witnessed a surge in child molestation and sexual abuse cases, some of which go back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
In August, a report by Professor Alexis Jay revealed that at least 1,400 children had been sexually exploited between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham.
In some cases, children as young as 11 were “raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten and intimidated,” the report added.
GMA/HSN/SS