From lead safeguarding bishops Joanne Grenfell and Robert Springett and national safeguarding director Alexander Kubeyinje

The Channel 4 documentary See No Evil is a harrowing reminder of the horrific abuse carried out by the late John Smyth, the failure of the Church to act, and the devastating effect on the lives of the victims and survivors and their loved ones, including Smyth’s family. Support has been and continues to be offered, including in the light of this week’s documentary.

We are profoundly sorry for the ways in which the Church failed to protect children and vulnerable adults and for the lasting impact of those failures.

As we said at the time of the publication of the 2024 learning lessons review by Keith Makin into the Church’s handling of the case, we are appalled that any clergy person could believe that covering up abuse was justified in the name of the Gospel. It was wrong for a seemingly privileged group from an elite background to decide that the needs of victims should be set aside, and that Smyth’s abuse should not therefore be brought to light.

We will continue to learn lessons about responding well. Last month an update was published on the ongoing progress of the Church’s response to the recommendations in the Makin report.

The National Safeguarding Team has taken out complaints under the Clergy Discipline Measure against 11 members of the clergy criticised in the Makin Review, seven of which are currently in progress.

The Church in South Africa has already carried out its own review. We have been in contact with the Church in Zimbabwe, where a young boy Guide Nyachuru died on one of Smyth’s camps, and offered to support and contribute financially to any review that it might choose to undertake, building on the review undertaken by David Coltart in 1993 who featured in the programme.

Support information

• If you or anyone you are in contact with are affected by the programme and want to talk to someone independently, please call the Safe Spaces helpline on 0300 303 1056or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.
  • Alternatively, you may wish to contact the diocesan safeguarding team in your area or the National Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@churchofengland.org.
  • There are also other support services available.

Comment

C4 describes the programme as “A forensic exploration of the sinister world and psychology of prolific abuser John Smyth, and the biggest scandal in Church of England history. Featuring never-seen-before interviews”:

In Episode 1, “Smyth launches a covert and brutal regime of abuse in the 1980s in Winchester. How did he weaponize faith? And how did his actions impact on others?”;

In Episode 2, “Smyth moves to Zimbabwe, where the abuse – and cover-ups – continue. Featuring interviews with victims and Smyth’s family, this episode charts his eventual downfall and the seismic scandal to follow”.

Following the Church of England’s update on 28 April 2022, we have indexed the posts on L&RUK and elsewhere which followed the timeline of events since 2017.