By Rob Cooper
Daily Mail
July 29, 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020079/Baroness-Scotland-Priests-dont-paedophiles.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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| Outburst: Baroness Scotland said parishioners should make friends with Roman Catholic priests |
Churchgoers should take priests out for a glass of wine or to football matches so they aren't tempted to become paedophiles, Baroness Scotland has said in an astonishing outburst.
The former Labour minister said that many priests have a 'fairly lonely existence' and need to mix more with their parishioners on a social basis.
The child protection expert, claimed that church leaders end up becoming abusers because they are 'isolated', the Daily Telegraph reported.
Baroness Scotland who is the chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission set-up to handle abuse claims, said paedophilia within the church should not be a taboo subject.
Her outburst came as official figures showed there was a three-fold rise in historic child abuse complaints in the Catholic church last year.
She told the Daily Telegraph: 'One of the things that came out very strongly from the research is that those who abuse have often seen themselves as being very lonely, isolated and unsupported emotionally.
She added: 'The priests and religious people are people too - they need friendship and comfort and someone to have a glass of wine with and watch the football or whatever it is. That is something that people sometimes forget.'
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A surge in historic child sex abuse complaints coincided with Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to Britain last September.
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| Sex abuse claims: A surge in complaints coincided with the Pope's visit to Britain last September. Here he is pictured at St Mary's College, Twickenham |
Allegations of sex abuse from the 1950s, 60s and 70s rose from20 in 2009 to 63 last year. Publicity surrounding the papal visit is thought to have led to the surge in complaints.
The types of abuse alleged included sexual, physical and emotional, as well as four allegations of child-abuse images - two relating to parishioners, one to a priest and one to a volunteer.
In total, there were 83 sex abuse claims relating to 103 victims and 92 alleged abusers in 2010, according to the annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission report.
The allegations from last year have so far resulted in two jail sentences, two court hearings and one police caution or warning.
The Catholic Church in England and Wales underwent sweeping reforms to its child protection procedures following intense criticism about the way it handled abuse scandals in the past.
The Nolan report in 2001, ordered by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, former leader of Catholics in England and Wales, made a series of recommendations aimed at stamping out paedophile activity in the church.
Between 1995 and 1999, 21 of the 5,600 Catholic priests in England and Wales were convicted of offences against children.
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