Monday 26 May 2014

Jersey's Dean--They Have learnt Nothing and Forgotten Nothing

In my previous blog I made reference to a report published on the Channel TV website which said that it could reveal that the Bishop of Winchester Tim Dakin had received the Steel Report, he had formally informed Jersey's Lieutenant Governor that he was not taking any disciplinary action against the Dean of Jersey, Dame Heather had been investigating how Jersey's Church looks after vulnerable parishioners and he had set up an Impact Assessment Group to suggest ways in which the Steel Report can be published without causing harm to HG.

It is possible that the information on the Channel Website came from a letter from Bishop Dakin to the Bailiff of Jersey because that letter contains much of the same information. However the letter contains additional information because the Bishop has said that the Steel Report highlights a number of significant concerns about safeguarding in Jersey including some which are directly connected with the Canons and the laws of Jersey.

Those who have read the Jan Korris Report which was published 15 months ago will have noted her concerns and of the confusion arising from the Church of England's Safeguarding Policy and the Jersey Canon Law. The Bishop now lets on that Dame Heather Steel has also come up with that conclusion yet it is only made known 6 months after he announced that no disciplinary action was being taken against the Dean. 

What is now evident is that when it comes to priorities the welfare of people like HG, the vulnerable and the general public are not as important as looking after the clergy particularly those responsible for ensuring that policies are not only implemented but complied with.

I am told that the letter goes on to say "I know that we share a common desire to ensure that safeguarding in the Church of England in Jersey is of the highest standard. I trust that we will be able to work together, with the Visitation team and the Archbishop’s Commission, to ensure that safeguarding in the Island is as good as it can be."

This leads one to ask why was the Bishop writing to the Bailiff who is our unelected Speaker and the Island's Chief Judge who should not be involved in politics. As the matter is now very much political should the letter not have been sent to the Island's Chief Minister who has been questioned on the matter several times in the States. It also leads one to ask who in Jersey is responsible for ensuring that safeguarding in the Island is as good as it can be?   

This is very pertinent question because If the Bishop is saying that the Steel Report highlights a number of significant concerns about safeguarding in Jersey but the Dean is not being disciplined then where does the buck stop?

When one looks under the thin Church carpets it is not difficult to find an organisation that has not only failed itself but has lost its way.  An organisation devoid of leadership and anachronistic. An organisation which has lost touch with the ordinary church goer and still believes it can overcome problems by praying for divine intervention rather than accepting that it is the cause of the problems.  

The Church of England is in trouble simply because at the outset its officers were of the belief that their and the Church Warden's status outweighed the complainant's who was dismissed as a trouble maker. Fortunately the public is no longer gullible and have learnt that the likes of Savile, Hall, Clifford and other obnoxious characters not only get exposed but so too the organisations who have protected them.

It was Talleyrand who is credited for the quotation; "They have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing." That could be said of the Church of England as it continues to fail to practice what it preaches and is more content on looking after their own rather than their congregation. 

HG may not have her day in court, but she is very much the winner because she has exposed the Church of England's hypocrisy who having failed her in 2008 has used her to settle an unseemly spat between Jersey's Dean and the Bishop of Winchester which has cost the Church of England hundreds of thousands of pounds and immense loss of public confidence.

To make matters worse the fall out from the Dean/Bishop spat continues as we now learn that complaints have been lodged against the Bishop for being beastly to the Dean who at least was not deported and left destitute in his pyjamas. Perhaps who ever is addressing the complaint might also address HG's complaint about the Dean because that issue is still outstanding. 

The Dean's supporters are hell bent on having sight of the Steel Report which has been compiled by one of its friends. The Bishop has stalled its circulation apparently because of a legal challenge and that the Report was incomplete. We know that there are significant safeguarding concerns in Jersey but no disciplinary action is being taken again the Dean and the Report will harm a person who has not been interviewed. Is anyone listening at Canterbury or is it is a case that no-one really cares?

These are indeed dark days for the Church of England and it could be said that "You just could not make it up," sadly the facts speak for them selves.

20 comments:

  1. Bob.

    You write;

    "We know that there are significant safeguarding concerns in Jersey but no disciplinary action is being taken again the Dean" That's because one arm of the State Media (ITV/CTV) and his good friend Philip Bailhache have EXONERATED HIM.

    The question you ask, and needs answering, WHO is responsible for the church's safeguarding failures? How can the Dean be exonerated, and not face disciplinary action, if he has already apologised and there are STILL safeguarding failures in Jersey?
    What jurisdiction/mandate has the unelected/unaccountable Bailiff got in order to receive the Steele Report?

    Who, in the church, is supporting HG? Why doesn't the State Media report there are still safeguarding failures with the church rather than (falsely) exonerate the Dean?

    Don't expect the BBC to report about the safeguarding failures because safety of the vulnerable is NOT A PRIORITY as far as the BBC is concerned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We can keep asking the questions but its a bit like being in the States whereby getting answers is another thing.

      No doubt no one is to blame regarding the safeguarding failures because they will say that the system is at fault, but don't ask whose fault that is.

      It is evident that the Dean is now the victim and no doubt it will only be a matter of time before he is made a Saint. Interesting to see how his friends are complaining about the Bishop but conveniently forgetting the Dean's role in handling HG's complaint.

      I don't know why the Bishop is involving the Bailiff, it is a political matter and it should be dealt with by the Chief Minister.

      Delete
  2. Why not get the person who has not been named , Interviewed !

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    Replies
    1. You have not been following my blogs, if you had you would know that Dame Heather has refused to do so.

      Delete
  3. The church is making itself irrelevant.

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  4. The Jersey Canon Law has put a stop to the COE doing anything. Until the Jersey Canon Law is amended to allow the COE to intervene (updated by lovely Philip's fair hands!) then nothing will change. The Queen is the only person to intervene. Once again we are back to where we started, the Law, the Church. All have been controlled by one or two people, Philip and his brother William.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The redrafting took around 10 years and the Bailhache brothers will have had a close interest in the matter and no doubt they are interpreting the law in they way they drafted it.

      Amending the present Law could take years.

      Delete
  5. The Canon Law was amended by Philip, that is why the COE contacted Sir Birt. It's again the issue of the COE doing circles again and again and it keeps going back to the fact that the Canon Law 'must' be amended, the COE's hands are tied.

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    Replies
    1. I think Winchester has found that its hand are tied.

      Delete
  6. Bob.

    A Witch-Hunt........In The Public Interest? PART TWO.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Surely history will record this Church of England episode as shameful. It would not be surprising if books or outside media articles were written highlighting this cruel corruption of mission. It is a story begging to be told to a wider audience and I admire your steady effort to report the facts against the hypocritical spin by the oligarchy and their Church of England allies. You never forget this is about a real human being, a young woman who continues to suffer from their hypocrisy.

    Elle

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Elle, what is frustrating is that the Church of England is oblivious to what is going on outside its blinkered world.

      I had been a regular church attender but no longer feel able to do so because of the hypocrisy and uncaring behaviour from those who are supposed to setting examples.

      Delete
  8. Bob, I don't understand how Korris and Steel both report that there are significant safeguarding concerns in Jersey yet no disciplinary action is being taken against the person who presumably is responsible for safeguarding in Jersey.

    Does the Dean walk on water too?

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  9. I think once these reports are or are not in the public domain give it a couple of months, then H.G. should write her own storey on what took place re the alleged abuse. and naming the person who allegedly carried this out, then we maybe able to compare the truth from the distorted truth, many people know who the alleged abuser is anyway. Why should he remain unpunished at the expense of H.G s health and frustration we must not protect abusers.

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  10. Bob.

    An Article 6 Human Right Compliant JERSEY?

    ReplyDelete
  11. "The Church in the marketplace"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPRLkesOBaQ&feature=youtu.be&t=53s

    Mark 12:38

    "And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces"

    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012&version=KJV


    ReplyDelete
  12. Bob said: "I had been a regular church attender but no longer feel able to do so because of the hypocrisy and uncaring behaviour from those who are supposed to setting examples."

    Anon replied: Bob, obtain a nodding aquaitance with the anatomy of the spine, parasymepthetic and symapthetic nervous systems and structures of the brain.

    Then, go and see Manju Nath ( http://sanjeevani-yoga.com/#/teacher/4569033870 ) whom gives local classes in traditional Hatha Yoga ( http://sanjeevani-yoga.com/#/timetable-prices/4562899896 ).

    In truth, the early Christians were in fact "Pneumatics", Manju Nath will help you find the true Church of Christ...

    Tell Manju Nath when you see him that Alakh Sathi sent you.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bob.

    Interview with Advocate Philip Sinel PART ONE.

    ReplyDelete