After the publication of the Makin review, \u201cand in view of the process now being undertaken by the National Safeguarding Team\u201d, Bishop Snow had \u201crequested that John steps back from ministry whilst this work is conducted, which John [Woolmer] has voluntarily agreed to do\u201d. His PTO would be reviewed again, \u201conce the National Safeguarding Team and the Diocesan Safeguarding Team have concluded their work\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing on social media last week, one Smyth survivor, Graham, wrote: \u201cI cannot speak for all victims, but John Woolmer is one of the good guys. He wrote to victims in 2017, a heart-rending mea culpa. We forgave him immediately. . . Victims do not want \u2018revenge\u2019, we want full disclosure, and honest, credible, apology. Woolmer is a good man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: \u201cI have made it clear that the National Safeguarding Team will investigate every clergy person or others within their scope of whom they have been informed who knew and failed to disclose the abuse\u201d (News, 21 May 2021<\/a>). This commitment was also made to survivors, with the Archbishop saying that a list held up by one survivor would act as the basis for investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Makin review records that \u201cthis is not what then happened,\u201d and that victims felt that a promise had been broken. \u201cThe investigations being undertaken were in order to establish whether an ordained person was presenting a current safeguarding risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> A former Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, is among the clergy who have been asked to \u201cstep back\u201d from ministry while safeguarding reviews prompted by the Makin review are conducted, it was confirmed this week https:\/\/t.co\/EVtJUfLlns<\/a><\/p>— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 28, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>