A CHURCH fence in rural north Cumbria became the colourful focus of a powerful event designed to smash the culture of silence that can nourish clerical abuse.

In what organisers hope will be the first of many such events around the county, the ‘loudfence’ saw dozens of ribbons and messages attached to the railings that surround St Peter’s Church in Kirkbampton.

Many messages condemned the culture of deference and reputation management that helps abusers escape punishment. One victim - a man in his 70s now - wrote: “I will only have peace when they put me in my coffin.’”

The loudfence was organised by local mum Antonia Sobocki, who spoke out after the prosecution of former Carlisle Cathedral canon Robert Bailey, 71, who was jailed for sexually abusing two young girls.

When his case came to court, it was revealed that the current Bishop of Carlisle, the Right Reverend James Newcome, had written a character reference for Bailey, though he later withdrew it and apologised to the priest’s victims.

In one poignant message, Mrs Sobocki and supporters of the event penned an open letter to those victims, telling them: “We owe you a debt of gratitude; because you were brave enough to speak out you have saved so many children.”

Commenting on the event, Mrs Sobocki said: “I was blown away by the response.

“It was as if we’d opened a floodgate; we had all sorts of people there and I discovered there’s such a thing as faith bereavement where people walk away [from the church] because of clerical abuse.

“They obviously miss church and the community that they were part of. There were survivors there; and I’ve had people call me from abroad who have gone through similar stuff and had seen The Cumberland News article online.”

She said statistics show only one per cent of clerical abuse victims ever disclose what happened to them. “The other 99 per cent are in plain sight but you don’t know who they are.

“There’s a taboo - especially among the older generations because there’s an indoctrinated deference that says you absolutely can’t talk about it.”Since the loudfence has come about, there are a lot of elderly people who say: ‘We all know who they are’ but nobody discusses it.

She spoke of how a north Cumbrian woman had revealed how a friend who was a wartime evacuee in to Cumbria during the war was raped by a member of the clergy.

“The perpetrator is long dead,” said Antonia. “But this is the first time that lady, who is now in her 80s, had told anybody.

“That’s the problem: we have to break through the wall of this deference and that is what the loudfence has done. It gives people permission to discuss this.

“Abusers can be very manipulative.

“Loudfence has lit the touch paper and made victims and others feel it’s okay for them to discuss it. The more people talk the less empowered abusers are. But a lot of older people feel still intimidated.”

Mrs Sobocki added: “I’d like every church in Cumbria to adopt the loudfence: it makes survivors feel valued; and it provides a platform... to allow people who’ve been injured by abuse - directly or indirectly - to speak out.”

Last month, the issue was highlighted by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse’. Its damning report concluded the Church of England failed to protect children sexual abuse.

It said the church created a culture where abusers “could hide”, with perpetrators often given more support than victims.

The Loudfence was staged on November 3, designated by campaigners as All Survivors’ Day.