Why? A believer myself, I\u2019ve spent weeks talking to my fellow faithful and to clergy at all levels, trying to find the answer. St Paul distilled Christianity down to three things: faith, hope and love. In my many discussions, I found plenty of the first, although little agreement about what it was placed in; not much of the second; and the third, well, it was in short supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I came away thinking that, for the CofE, this really might be the end of days. The first horseman of this coming apocalypse is the ugliest: the church\u2019s hideous record of abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe need to get to the heart of it,\u201d says Chris Eyden, a retired vicar who is gay and spent 33 years in parish ministry. \u201cWhy do QCs beat young boys until they bleed? What is that?\u201d\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re talking about the case of John Smyth, an evangelical Christian whose sadistic sexual beatings brutalised more than 100 young men over four decades. It was the Makin report into the case that forced Welby to resign when it revealed that he had known Smyth for decades and had failed to report the case to police when he was made aware of allegations in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a> (registration or subscription).<\/p> Scandals, schism and decay: is the Church of England doomed?
Justin Welby and others have left in disgrace and the gaps between factions are widening. Stephen Bleach meets vicars across the country to see if the institution can be saved ⬇️https:\/\/t.co\/jjTE0Fuk5s<\/a><\/p>— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) December 22, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>