By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Reuters (12.11.2024) announced that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide, resigned “in sorrow” on Tuesday, saying he had failed to ensure a proper investigation into allegations of abuse at Christian summer camps decades ago after a report the previous week found he had insufficiently acted to stop one of the Church’s most prolific serial abusers.

The report said British lawyer John Smyth had subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “brutal and horrific” physical and sexual abuse over 40-years. Smyth would beat victims with up to 800 strokes of a cane, and drape himself over his victims, kissing them on the neck or back.

He ran Christian camps in Dorset, England, where Welby also worked before his ordination. Smyth died in 2018.

The Church had known at the highest level about the sexual abuse in 2013. Welby became aware, at the latest, the same year, after becoming archbishop.

African Anglican churches, e.g., Uganda and Nigeria, stated last year they have no confidence in Welby especially after he permitted the ordination of homosexuals. It is not a surprising end to a person who was refused  ordination by John Hughes, the then Bishop of Kensington, telling him, “There is no place for you in the Church of England” (The Daily Telegraph, 31.07.2017). Welby finally rose to be Archbishop of Canterbury. It was he who appointed our bishops Dhilo Canagasabey and Dushantha Rodrigo. The Church of Ceylon being under Welby, it is our archbishop who invited scandal.

Saving Reputations and Avoiding Scandals

These are the two main motivators in scandal coverups. There was something amiss in Justin Welby’s back-ground but to this day few know what. That helped him climb to the pinnacle of the church. The exposure of scandals by people of good standing and the concomitant fear of the diminished influence of the church serve to abort exposure’s cleansing nature. A disincentive to whistle-blow is when a friend’s reputation is involved.

The same dynamics is at play in Sri Lanka. A handsome priest with charisma producing eloquent sermons would seduce impressed women at every parish he served, and the only punishment was a transfer to where he would be up to his tricks again. He was a so-called evangelical and exposing him would be terrible for the evangelical wing of the church. So he thrives.

Another example was at the Jaffna Christian Union where funds coming for tsunami relief were embezzled. A school principal was one cheque signatory. Being busy, he signed blank cheques. The treasurer created bills for supplies from a shop established for this purpose, and went with 2 other priests in cassock to open a bank account at an island. The Bank Manager said he saw men in cassock and checked no further. When the fraud was discovered, Fr. J. Jebamohan who identified the missing funds, was asked to drop the matter to save the Principal’s reputation. Nonetheless, Jebamohan filed a police report but died of cancer before the case could progress.

A third example concerns a youth camp in Paranthan where a Methodist in charge from Colombo arranged for a Moonie Leader to play an active role. He had sex with a girl and the organizer begged that the matter be forgotten since he would be questioned how a Moonie was put in authority, and because parents would not send children to future camps. The matter was buried.

Both ingredients were at play in these scandals.

Homosexual Abuse just like Justin Welby

This narrative  concerns a former Principal of St. John’s College, Jaffna. It bears all the hallmarks of the Welby Scandal. This Principal was sexually abused as a boy by his senior (who was sacked by Principal Pooranampillai). Homosexuality is a severe problem at Anglican school hostels. A speaker at  an international conference shed copious tears about his abuse at Trinity College’s Hostel with no school action. My brother Rajan testifies to gangs of boys jumping on their victims at night at the Gurutalawa Hostel. A victim knifed an assailant with a pen-knife. Both victim and assailant were suspended.

Accusations then emerged of the Johnian Principal abusing young children and even a master under him.  The Principal claimed special Counselling, an excuse for meetings after hours.

Then the Principal’s attention shifted to a young teacher whom he repeatedly invited to his office after hours. The teacher gave me a recording on his phone when the Principal detained him at his office. Here is an extract from the teacher’s written complaint to the Director of the Zonal Education Circuit (23.11.2018):

“Once I entered his office the Principal embraced me. Without letting me move, he continued to hug me for ten minutes and kissed me continually on my cheeks and my neck. When I pushed him away, he embraced me again and kissed me gently on the back of my neck as if to arouse me sexually and not let me give him the slip. … After that he spoke to me about my service. …He moved his chair closer and stroked my genitals with his knee. Speaking to me off and on, he would hold my hands and slip them off to stroke my male principle. … He then got me to sit up and said he had to look into my eyes. In doing so asked me to look into his eyes, bit his lips and exhibited a sexually vulgar expression  of rage.  I refused and refused, saying I had respect for him and to please permit me to leave. He asked me to be his friend having a different relationship. Finally, after an hour and a half he permitted me to leave.”

When Bishop Dhilo failed to act, I was on the Standing Committee. I wrote (14.01.2019)  that unless he acted on the 2-month-old complaint with a recording of the principal’s homosexual advances, I had no choice but to report it to the police as required by law. Section 345 of the Penal Code declares “Making unwelcome sexual advances in a workplace or other place by someone in authority,” a crime and mandates immediate reporting to the nearest police station. The penalty for failing to report is imprisonment up to two years.

Yet Bishop Dhilo, instead of letting the Police investigate as required by law, told me that he is asking a retired District  Judge to inquire. I learnt much later that he had asked Ms. Ramani Muttetuwegama to inquire and her finding was never released. She would not have understood the nuanced conversation between Principal and Teacher as recorded. The Principal suddenly retired prematurely, sells used cars and now volunteers with Boy Scouts in Mullaitivu. But he remains a priest, trusted by the faithful who do not know his antecedents. This is typically how the church covers up for its errant priests.

In the absence of an inqury, the teacher fled to Canada.

In the story headlined “These Men Say the Boy Scouts’ Sex Abuse Problem Is Worse Than Anyone Knew,” Time (1 June 2019) says;

“Within Scout headquarters, the list [of abusive Scout Masters] was known as the ‘P Files’ or ‘Perversion Files.’ In January, a child abuse expert hired by the Boy Scouts to analyze the files testified that she found 12,254 boys had reported experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of at least 7,800 suspected assailants between 1944 and 2016. [That] number is likely a gross underestimation. Many boys were likely intimidated or shamed out of reporting their assailants, who often held influential positions in local churches, schools, or businesses.”

The ex-Principal then joined Jeshuran Healing Centre run by Hilda Samuel (aka Anto Handy) the daughter of Fr. J.T.N. Handy. I warned her. She was pumped with the story that I quarrel wherever I go and told me to remember that when I point my index finger at someone, four of my finhgers are pointing at me. Six months later there was an incident of boys being abused at Jeshuran Centre. The Principal and Samuel parted ways.

Bishop Canagasabey by usurping the reserved role of the police to inquire into the accusations has invited the 2-year imprisonment of Section 345 of the Penal Code. He and Bishop Rodrigo have let loose an accused predator with their priest’s licence who is yet to be cleared by a proper police inquiry. That licence taints our sacred sacraments as he celebrates mass and endangers  Boy Scouts. Ramani Muttetuwegama too is complicit in taking on against the law a role reserved for the police, especially when she cannot understand Tamil.

It is awkward for me. The Principal, Muttetuwegama (who helped me in releasing my sister from Welikada) and the Principal’s wife are my good friends. My duty to the law militates against my friendships. It is that tension that allows sex abusers to continue as priests.

Archbishop Welby has resigned. Bishops Canagasabey and Rodrigo must follow his lead in light of their same failure.