The Church of England has announced that former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey, is among ten clergy members facing potential disciplinary action for failing to act on abuse allegations.
This follows the release of the Makin review, which found that Church officials, including Lord Carey, were aware of the abuse carried out by Christian camp leader John Smyth but did not take appropriate action.
Lord Carey resigned from the priesthood in December after a separate investigation into how the Church handled another sexual abuse case. His name surfaced again in the Makin report, which indicated that he had received a report on Smyth’s actions but claimed he never saw it.
The Church’s national safeguarding team (NST) has sought permission to bring disciplinary cases against Carey and other clergy members, as the allegations fall outside the usual time limits. The process is being overseen by an independent panel and reviewed by a barrister to ensure fairness.
The other clergy members facing disciplinary proceedings include Bishop Paul Butler, Revd Roger Combs, Revd Sue Colman, Revd Andrew Cornes, Revd Tim Hastie-Smith, Revd Hugh Palmer, Revd Paul Perkin, Revd Nick Stott, and Revd John Woolmer.
Church officials acknowledged the long-term suffering of John Smyth’s victims. Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church’s National Director of Safeguarding, expressed deep regret over the failures and emphasized the Church’s commitment to addressing the findings of the report.
Lord Carey, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, has faced repeated criticism for mishandling abuse allegations during his tenure. In 2017, an independent report accused him of covering up serious allegations against Bishop Peter Ball. He was later found to have failed in passing along information about Smyth’s abuses, leading to the revocation of his permission to officiate in 2020. Although this permission was later restored, he officially resigned from the Church in December after a BBC investigation revealed he had supported a suspected child abuser’s return to priesthood.
Despite his resignation, the latest developments indicate that disciplinary action may still be taken against him and others involved in past safeguarding failures.