The greatest scandal in modern British history is the cover-up of the Pakistani rape gangs that have operated with impunity in a number of British towns and cities. U.S. readers first heard the story through Elon Musk, although by then it was old news; the gangs’ activities have been well known for over twenty years. The victims of the rapes were young white British girls, many as young as 10, who faced ordeals so harrowing I cannot describe them here.

What happened exactly? In British towns such as Rotherham, Oldham and Blackburn, which have large populations of Muslim Pakistani immigrants, men enticed young white girls, often from broken homes, into relationships which became abusive. The girls were groomed and then gang-raped by dozens of men. This great evil was then superseded by an even greater one: the cover-up of the crimes by British society at all levels. When the rapes were reported to the police, social services, MPs and the media, all turned a blind eye, and in some cases blamed the young girls themselves for what had happened. The reason? They were all afraid of being labeled “racist.”

Eventually, due to the industrial scale of the rapes - thousands of girls were victims - it was no longer possible to suppress or ignore the story. A few brave reporters took up the girls’ case and the truth, at last, became widely known. Members of some of the gangs were arrested, tried and sent to prison. Last month, the British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper shared the summary findings of the report on grooming gangs by Baroness Casey. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-caseys-audit-of-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse   The report makes chilling reading. The government has since ordered a national enquiry.

Where was the Church of England when all of this was going on? Sadly, the Church joined in the conspiracy of silence. Last month, the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, wrote an article for the Church of England Newspaper, in which he asked why the leaders of the Church had not spoken out earlier. https://www.churchnewspaper.com/we-are-quick-to-speak-out-on-benefits-and-inequality-on-israel-and-gaza-on-assisted-dying-and-the-care-system-why-have-we-been-collectively-silent-on-grooming-gangs/ 

I remember Rev. Phillip North from my pilgrimages to the Anglican Shrine at Walsingham, where he was priest administrator between 2002 and 2008. Rev. North was an effective administrator and is a highly respected member of the Church. The Shrine, which dates from the eleventh century, is dedicated to a young girl: the Virgin Mary. 

In his article, Bishop North writes, “I have heard directly and on many occasions of the anxiety of working class families that their daughters are vulnerable to well organised gangs. Why did I so readily believe the voices that claimed that calling for an inquiry was a collusion with the far right?”

The bishop admits that agreeing with anyone on the “far right” carried a far greater stigma than failing to protect young children from sexual abuse. This is evidence of serious moral confusion. While he is proud of the Church’s commitment to fostering close relationships with Muslim communities, his fear of offending his Muslim brothers and sisters closed his ears to the cry of the victims. “Raising an issue that so directly impacts one ethnic group could appear to sit ill with our commitment to racial justice,” he writes.

Underlying this meek observation is the modern notion of the unquestionable good of multiculturalism. Unfortunately, it overlooks what happens when large numbers of immigrants settle in a country whose cultural values and assumptions are very different from their own. The gangs were clearly operating on racist principles, but no one had the courage to call them out. To do so would mean attacking the entrenched narrative that all Muslims are potential “victims” of racial injustice. By failing to identify the true victims, society condemned the girls to their fates.

The bishop concludes his article with these words: “I am doing some serious reflection about my fear-driven silence when it comes to grooming gangs. I hope other church leaders will do the same.” What is missing from the bishop’s article is a sense of righteous anger. Not a single girl is named, only “working class neighborhoods.” Depersonalizing the problem - discussing it in classist terms, along with “benefits dependency, asylum seekers and energy costs” - minimizes the gravity of these horrific crimes and the failure of the Church to witness to them. 

Sadly, so many leaders in the Church resemble the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan who, seeing the beaten body on the road, pass by on the other side. In this matter, the Church of England has exchanged the God of love and compassion for the god of “social cohesion.” Could the Church as a whole repent of its failure to stand up for its most vulnerable members in their hour of need? The bishop has made a start. The Church now needs the courage to admit its mistakes and seek forgiveness.

Father David