Jesus loves Jersey

This is Justin Welby. He is the Church of England Archbishop of Canterbury and he has just given the most pathetic, insipid and duplicitous interview I have ever heard.

The interviewer was Matthew Price, of BBC Jersey, and, to give him his due, he didn't do a bad job, asking most of the necessary questions.

The Bishop, on the other hand, sounded like he hadn't a clue, more like a bureaucrat caught in the headlights and trying to defend the indefensible than a bishop giving leadership to his flock. If God's love is as insipid as that quoted by the Bishop then lots of Christians are in deep shit.

You will be familiar with the story of the Dean and the vulnerable lady if you have read the earlier post on Jersey. Well, the Bishop, who was being interviewed explicitly on the fallout from this sorry saga, didn't seem to know anything much about it, or, if he did, he hid it very well.

In summary, a churchwarden in Jersey abused a vulnerable young lady. When she complained to the Dean he effectively ignored her complaint and when she made a fuss he had her arrested. She was then deported from Jersey and dumped penniless on the mainland where she was mainly homeless for the following three years. The then Bishop (Scott-Joynt) was a waste of space but when the new bishop (Dakin) came in he suspended the Dean. His feelings in the matter are no doubt to his credit. However, as he was badly advised and exceeded his powers, he had to reinstate the Dean who immediately, and falsely, claimed that he had been exonerated of the bad behaviour of which he had been accused. Relations between the Bishop and the Dean deteriorated to the point that the Bishop (Dakin) dumped the Dean on another Bishop (Willmott) who is now supposed to "supervise" him.

Meanwhile, the young lady, whom Jesus no doubt loves as much as he might love any of the other players, has been living in distress and near destitution all the while.

Bishop Dakin - out of his depth

Jersey Dean - as sleazy as they come

Bishop Willmott - the Dean's new mammy

Now, Archbishop Welby thinks Bishop Dakin is a wonderful fellow. He also sees no reason why he should not have confidence in the Dean, whom he has only met once, and whose behaviour he ducked commenting on in the interview. He also thinks Bishop Willmott is a wonderful fellow and hasn't he spent the most of the last while in Jersey, doing God only knows what. They're all very nice fellows really.

Welby, in my view, makes it quite clear that he puts the reputation of the institutional church above the wellbeing of its individual members. And he doesn't want to upset anybody. His job, according to himself, is to ensure that his officers all get along happily together. Now, while Jesus was supposed to have come to save the world he was not above knocking heads together and I'll wager that none of this lot would have survived his anger in the temple for long.

So, while all these cretins are busy playing at happy families and dispensing God's love to all and sundry, the young lady is living damaged and in mortal fear of the Church of England and the police who have been harrassing her in the meantime. She has repeatedly asked them to leave her alone and to stop making statements and threatening reports that would, by their publication or even the expectation of it, further ruin her physical health and mental wellbeing.

As I don't believe in Heaven, I'm not supposed to believe in Hell, but I'm working on it.