Vatican Radio
July 28, 2011
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=508154
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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…
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"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."
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