“What I have tried to do is to give rise to an attitude inside the Church that may permit someone who has suffered a sexual abuse to come forward and denounce it”. With this declaration, the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, presented the final version of the Nolan Report during a press conference in London. The report was called for last summer by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, to investigate the scandal of sexual abuse against children. “A programme for action” – as the report is called – is the result of a long enquiry led by the Catholic judge Nolan. It offers 38 new suggestions that need to be added to the 50 recommendations made in the first report, published last April. The Nolan Report suggests confessionals with glass doors through which it would be possible to see the priest without hearing what he is saying when he is confessing children and teenagers; a national unit for coordinating the work of the protection of minors; and a data bank for controlling all the information on aspiring priests and ensuring they have not committed abuses in the past. It also calls for a person to be responsible for the well-being of children in every parish, diocese and religious order. The information on those who have committed abuses should be held for ten years, without being destroyed when the persons in question die. Any accusation of abuse must be investigated immediately and anyone suspected of abuses must be subjected to an examination to see whether he represents a danger for other children. Anyone condemned for abuses or reprimanded should not be given any post that puts children at risk. These are the key recommendation of the Nolan Report which will be reviewed in five years’ time. Archbishop Nichols also promised that cases of abuse that have not been recognized will be investigated by bishops and superiors of religious orders. Margaret Kennedy, spokesperson of the Association “Survivors of clergy” has expressed her appreciation of the final version of the Nolan Report. “The enquiry – she said – is excellent, but I have some concerns. No special preparation is asked of the various persons in charge; they don’t even need to be social workers. I am worried about the voluntary staff in the parishes. I hope they will be suitably trained”. Silvia Guzzetti
