UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
March 5, 2018
The Church of England may have focussed too much on forgiving sexual predators, an inquiry has heard.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has begun hearing evidence about how the Anglican Church dealt with complaints over many years.
Fiona Scolding QC said there was evidence children were made to feel responsible for abuse they suffered.
The inquiry was set up in March 2015 to address institutional failures to protect children in England and Wales.
The current phase has begun with an investigation of alleged abuse in the Diocese of Chichester in Sussex.
Ms Scolding said there would be evidence from witnesses about a series of potential failings within the Church.
She said they included a tendency to “make children responsible” for their sexual abuse instead of the adults around them, an inability to spot or even understand so-called “grooming” and an inability to understand that victims would suffer from the aftermath of abuse as adults.
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