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The latest piece of effrontery is a report by channelonline.tv (basically ITV Jersey) to the effect that Bishop Dakin has informed Jersey's Governor that he intends publishing the Steel Report but is considering how best to do so without harming the woman involved.
Channelonline have translated this into a headline which reads:
Bishop concerned report will “harm” alleged victim.
What Dakin is reported as saying is bad enough, but the headline adds another layer to it, incorporating the tv station's own interpretation of the whole saga.
To my way of thinking, putting harm in quotes suggests that the victim will not be harmed but that the Bishop has to take account of the possibility for PC reasons or to cover his holy arse.
Of course the victim will be harmed by the report which is a biased report by a friend of the establishment who didn't even interview her and who has nevertheless already expressed very negative views on her in a non-public interview for which she now refuses to supply a promised transcript. How the Bishop thinks he can get round this one without literally crucifying the woman is beyond me.
The victim, who was abused by a churchwarden with form, whose complaint was ignored, who was then victimised twice over, to whom the Dean, Bishop and Archbishop have made lame apologies, has now become the alleged victim. Maybe nothing ever happened at all?
How any self-respecting media, or minister of religion, can peddle this shite is beyond me.
Finally, the Bishop reiterates that no disciplinary action will be taken (against the Dean) on foot of the report. We know the reason is that the Bishop does not have jurisdiction. When he thought he had, he actually suspended the Dean, but the Dean's constitutional position in Jersey's established church and within Jersey's civic administration puts him beyond the Bishop's reach. However, every time the Bishop states that there will be no disciplinary action, without stating the reason why not, he strengthens the impression that the Dean has no case to answer.
So, in a nutshell, the above reveals a sleazy cleric (or two, or three) who just want shut of this problem at any cost in order to protect the interests of their church and with a total disregard for the actual victim.
Jesus wept. Again.
You can hear Matthew Price's interview with Bob Hill (18/5/2014) below:
with thanks to BBC Jersey
Incidentally Peter Ould has raise the question of whether Bishop Dakin should be involved at all at this stage as he has transferred all his Jersey functions to that friend of the Dean, Bishop Willmot of Dover.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is a secret codicil to the transfer agreement which says that Bishop Dakin, for his sins, is to be left to sort out Heather Steel himself.