Papal visit prompts new response in abuse reporting
Making the Church a safe place for children in the UK: that’s the focus of the third
annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission which was made public
on Thursday. The report details many positive developments in the safeguarding ministry
in England and Wales, but it also recognises there is no room for complacency in dealing
with survivors of abuse by priests or other members of the Church.
The report
notes that following Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain in September last year, there
was a threefold increase in the number of victims who felt able to come forward and
report cases of sexual abuse that took place several decades ago. During his four
day visit, the Pope met with both survivors and members of the national safeguarding
commission, telling them ‘it is deplorable that children have suffered abuse at the
hands of some priests and religious.’
In an introduction to the report, the
commission's chair, Baroness Patricia Scotland, said she is aware there was "still
much to do” and the Church needs to work on developing "a more sensitive and pastoral
response to the victims and survivors of abuse”. A former British Attorney General,
Baroness Scotland is well known for her success in reducing the cases of domestic
violence in the UK. Philippa Hitchen asked her if she believes that protection of
children has now become a top priority for the Catholic Church there…
Listen:
"Absolutely,
you know that one of the first things the Pope did when he came to Britain was to
go and speak with victims. The fact that canon law has been changed in the last seven
years and very clear and strict guidance has been given through canon law as to how
this should be dealt with.........Christ himself made children a top priority, so
of course the Church is anxious about this and is trying to better understand the
whole phenomenon of abuse so that we can better understand how to respond to it"
"How
do we create an environment which will encourage people to feel able to come forward
and disclose? How do we enable victims to understand it's not their fault if they
are subjected to abuse and they are not responsible......"
"We're looking at
how to build resilience, how to better prevent, how to train those who come into the
Church, how to sift those who shouldn't work in the Church ..."
"What my work
with domestic violence has taught me is that it is possible, but it's only possible
if we all work together....."
"I think there are some really encouraging signs
- if you look at what's happening in America, in the 1985 period there were over 900
claims, now the latest data show there are 73 - that's 73 too many, but compared to
where we were, we have made it much harder for to people to do this."