Bishop Peter Ball was the suffragan Bishop of Lewes from 1977 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992. He also founded a monastic community with his twin brother which he lead for 20 years.
He was convicted of two offences of indecent assault in 2015 but an inquiry into why it took this long suggested his character allowed him to avoid conviction.
The inquiry into allegations against Ball found that of the 42 dioceses in England, the Diocese of Chichester, where Ball worked, received the most reports of child sexual abuse, with 18 convictions in 50 years.
The inquiry said the diocese had a culture of “prioritising reputation” among senior clergy, who had a “permissive attitude towards some perpetrators, even when they had been convicted”.
Peter Ball was found to have abused his position as Bishop of Gloucester to deliberately manipulate vulnerable teenagers for his own sexual gratification, which included naked praying, masturbation and beating for his own pleasure.
The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Lord George Carey, is said to have had more compassion towards Peter Ball than to the victims.
The inquiry also found that the Church of England’s response was marked by secrecy, skirting round the truth and avoiding reporting alleged crimes and that their apology “remains unconvincing”.
Premier has asked the Diocese of Chichester for its response to the inquiry’s…
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