Posted on 10/22/2025 7:26:39 PM PDT by xxqqzz
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — For over 30 years, Edith Nyachuru has carried the weight of her brother’s unexplained death.
At 16, Guide Nyachuru’s life was cut short at a Christian camp in Zimbabwe in 1992. Guide was one of over 100 boys and young men abused by British barrister and lay preacher John Smyth at camps spanning Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa in what became one of the Church of England’s darkest scandals.
It led to the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury last year.
Now, as the church prepares to install its first female Archbishop of Canterbury and some Zimbabwean victims pursue legal action in the U.K., the Nyachuru family hopes the church and justice system will finally bring answers.
“The struggle for justice is real,” said Edith. “The most painful thing is we as a family don’t know how he died, what kind of pain he endured.”
Her 87-year-old mother, Rachel, and six Zimbabwean men who allege physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse by Smyth, initiated a legal claim this month.
The claim accuses the Church of England of negligence for its inaction when abuse was first uncovered decades ago. Their attorneys, U.K law firm Leigh Day, cite the St. Andrew the Great parish in Cambridge, where a vicar’s 1982 report found evidence of abuses by Smyth at Christian camps. They are demanding a “full apology,” access to church documents, compensation and an independent review.
...
The 1982 report, compiled by then parish Vicar Mark Ruston in Cambridge, detailed beatings lasting “many years.” One victim could “feel the blood spattering on my legs.” Ruston described “bruised and scored buttocks” months after a beating, noting “suppressed masochistic sexual activity” and forced nakedness “to increase humility.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
33 years ago?
Yeah, real biblical. What would Jesus have done?
If justice has not yet been achieved after 33 long years, may as well realize it’s not going to happen at all.
Sorry for your loss, but it’s best to face the facts as they present themselves, and loosen the grip of this injustice.
That country is notorious for not seeming to give a care how it’s citizens are treated.
Her 87-year-old mother, Rachel, and six Zimbabwean men who allege physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse by Smyth, initiated a legal claim this month
Follow the money.
I wouldn’t call it a Christian camp.
They want a payout. His is with Christ. Who cares how he suffered?
I call total bs.
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