Church abuse report 'like horror movie' says bishop

The report into child abuser John Smyth has been described by the Bishop of Salisbury as being "like a horror movie".

The Right Reverend Stephen Lake told the BBC: "The trouble is it's not fiction, it's real, and very real every day for victims and survivors."

Justin Welby resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury after facing rising pressure to stand down over his failure to report Smyth, who abused boys he met at Christian camps.

The Bishop told the BBC that whoever takes over from Mr Welby needs to make sure that safeguarding is "front and centre".

Bishop Lake said there have been huge changes over the past few years in the Church of England, but that "we need to make sure that whoever leads us has this [safeguarding] front and centre".

"My focus is on the report itself and what we need to be doing for the victims and survivors as a result of this," he added.

A statement released by the Diocese of Salisbury said the church's focus needs to be on victims' experiences and the lessons from them.

The diocese covers a large area, including a lot of Wiltshire, Dorset and the Channel Islands.

"Reading it [the Smyth report] is like a horror movie. This is our Jimmy Savile moment, our Rolf Harris moment," Bishop Lake said.

However, he said that at a local level, people are "taking this seriously, caring about it because of what they believe".

"At a local level, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Every single one of our parishes has a safeguarding officer

"Over the years, safeguarding practice has improved," he explained.

The diocese statement added that it will "continue to work to implement good safeguarding practices, supported by clergy and volunteers in our parishes and advised by our professional safeguarding team".

"We remain committed to engaging with victims and survivors of abuse," it said.

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