London, UK - Nearly every Catholic parish in England now has a child protection officer, specifically tasked with contacting statutory agencies following an allegation of sex abuse.
Ninety six per cent of the 2,659 Roman Catholic parishes in England and Wales now has a safeguarding representative. Their job is also to ensure every volunteer for Church work with children and young people undergoes a Criminal Record Bureau check.
Last year, the Church carried out 17,000 CRB checks. Eighty-three showed that the volunteers had criminal convictions. According to the annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, and the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service, the Catholic Church’s child protection offices, this means that in 2008 the Catholic Church in England and Wales was one of the top 10 offices nationwide to carry out CRB checks.
In 2008, 5,565 people attended 464 events designed to teach them Church policy and procedure on child protection and dealing with allegations of abuse. For the first time, a special curriculum on the topic was taught in all four training colleges for Catholic priests in England and Wales.
Last year, 50 allegations of sexual abuse were made, relating to 64 alleged victims. In the report the NCSC noted that while the figures represented a “decrease” compared to those recorded in 2007, it was “too early in our collection of this data to indicate a trend.”
A spokesman for the Catholic Church in England and Wales said the report reflected a “fundamental shift” in the past 10 years in the Church’s attitude to protecting children and vulnerable adults.
He said: “Ten years ago, the Church was in a state of deep shock at the abuse of children by some priests and this shock was exacerbated by the fact that it had been perpetrated by people in whom trust had been placed.”
In 2002, Lord Nolan led a wide-ranging investigation into the Catholic Church in England and Wales and allegations of sexual abuse. The result, the Nolan Report, led to the setting up for the first time of child protection procedures within the Church.
The spokesman added: “Following Lord Nolan’s independent report the Church’s focus was on implementing his recommendations. Good practice on monitoring and controlling was introduced to ensure people who had any contact with children were CRB checked; to ensure close co-operation with the statutory authorities as soon as any allegation of abuse was made. “
“There continues to be a one-Church approach, with one set of policies adopted by the whole Church and whilst any abuse will continue to be clamped down upon, the focus is moving towards ensuring a culture of safeguarding within the Church. Ensuring the Church is a safe place for the vulnerable is right at the heart of the Church’s ministry.
“As Pope Benedict said: “it is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure the principles of justice are fully respected and above all to bring healing to the victims.”