The former Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, has admitted to allegations of misconduct in connection to the handling of abuse claims against the late John Smyth.
Smyth died in 2018 and is believed to be responsible for abuse going back decades in both Britain and Africa. The Church of England’s handling of the Smyth scandal has come under heavy criticism, with the Makin Review into the affair eventually leading to the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Makin Review concluded that Welby had not taken sufficient action once he became aware of the allegations. Welby resigned, admitting that he had “personally failed to ensure … [that] the awful tragedy was energetically investigated”.
While accepting overall responsibility Welby has also contested some of Makin’s findings, arguing that subsequent evidence confirmed that the allegations against Smyth had in fact been reported to the authorities and that the police had told the Church not to investigate further as doing so could harm their own enquiries.
Welby, however, is not the only person in the Church deemed to have failed in the Smyth case.
Seven clergy are currently facing disciplinary measures under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) due to failings highlighted by the Makin Review.
Butler, also a former lead bishop for safeguarding, is one of them. The complaint against him relates to “information in the Makin Review” and Butler was asked to “step back” from ministry in 2024.
In a statement, the CDM said, “At the commencement of the hearing before the Court of the Vicar General of York to consider a complaint brought against him by the National Director of Safeguarding, Mr Alexander Kubeyinje, the Rt Rev Paul Butler entered admissions to the allegations of misconduct.
“The hearing was then adjourned and a further hearing to consider a penalty will be listed in due course.”
The penalties available to the CDM range from a conditional discharge all the way up to a lifetime ban from ministry and removal from office.
