THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that he longs for the day when the Church demonstrates that it realises that victims of abuse are never the ones to be blamed. Writing on his website, Archbishop Welby said that he had met a survivor of clerical abuse who was still criticised by her community for coming forward. "The time has come when, as a society, we say that those who are abused are never at fault," he wrote.

THE deaths have been announced of the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester from 1995 to 2011, who died last Saturday, aged 71; the Rt Revd Stephen Sykes, Bishop of Ely from 1990 to 1999, and afterwards Principal of St John's College, Durham, who died on Thursday of last week, aged 75; and the Rt Revd Mark Wood, Bishop of Matabeleland from 1971 to 1977, and later Suffragan Bishop of Ludlow, who died on Sunday, aged 95. Obituaries to follow.

IN A new poll, 58 per cent of those questioned believed that the Government should abandon its target of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid. Although one in two people said that they were proud of Britain's commitment to aid, 69 per cent also said that the money should be spent on alleviating poverty at home before it was sent abroad.

A PRIEST has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment after admitting asking children on an internet chat blog to assault other children sexually. The priest, Vicar of St Francis's, Luton, the Revd James Ogley, who is married and the father of young children, had pleaded guilty to seven charges of publishing obscene material at Luton Crown Court on Wednesday. He was suspended from his dutiesas a priest after his arrest in January last year. A statement from the diocese on Wednesday said that the Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, "may now impose an appropriate penalty under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003".

THE international director of Barnabas Aid International, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, has denied allegations of sexual assault and witness intimidation. He was charged with sexual assault in May, and with two counts of witness intimidation in July. He will go on trial on 16 February at Swindon Crown Court. Barnabas Aid International is part of the Barnabas Fund, a charity dedicated to supporting Christians facing persecution.

THE Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, who chairs the Church of England safeguarding board, has expressed concern about a delay in the government inquiry into historical child abuse, to be led by the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Fiona Woolf. The Daily Mail reported that, at a conference on safeguarding held last month, Bishop Butler said: "Given her very heavy duties as Lord Mayor, it is hard to see how the inquiry will be able to get under way until late November at the earliest. This is an unfortunate delay, since the initial announcement was made in early July. It has already led to concerns being expressed about files' being shredded in government departments and elsewhere."