So that it never happens again

A serious and comprehensive commitment in the campaign to stop abuses against children and vulnerable adults: it is in this spirit that the Church of England and Wales intends to tackle this delicate question on the basis of an examination of what has happened in the past, so that similar cases no longer happen in the future. This is the pledge made by the first annual Report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) which was presented in London on 23 September. The Commission – explains its chairman Bill Kilgallon – was set up in June 2008 to replace the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (COPCA). Its establishment was called for by Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, then Primate of the Catholic Church in England, following the publication of the Nolan Report in 2001. The Commission. The National Catholic Safeguarding Commission was founded with the aim of helping dioceses and parishes to carry out the ongoing monitoring and protection of the children and vulnerable adults entrusted to their care and to denounce, where necessary, any situation at risk. This work of monitoring is carried by a network of hundreds of volunteers and members of the NCSC itself, supported by professional staff. “Monitoring – explains Kilgallon in presenting the Report – is essential for the ministry of the Church. Pope Benedict XVI himself has emphasized its importance, speaking of abuses within the Church. The scars caused by such abuses – said the Holy Father – run deep. It’s an urgent task to rebuild trust where it has been damaged by what has happened in the past and to take all the necessary steps to prevent them from recurring in future, as also to ensure that all the principles of justice be fully respected and especially to help the victims in their healing process”. Volunteers. The Report emphasises “the positive process” conducted by the National Commission in parishes, dioceses and religious congregations. It’s a process – says the Report – made possible thanks to the work being performed by thousands of persons, all volunteers, who freely place their spare time and energies at the disposal of the Church to ensure as wide and comprehensive a monitoring network as possible. The Report shows that 96% of English and Welsh parishes (a total of 2,589 parishes) can now count on the presence of a local representative for the safeguard of children. The local representative – says the Report – plays a “pastoral role that demands a great deal of responsibility and vigilance, and that must above all be taken seriously”. In essence, the local representative monitors the procedures by which those who wish to enter Church-run organizations of various kinds are accepted and especially the procedures by which those called to work with children and vulnerable adults are vetted. The Report underlines the fact that whereas in the past this role and this monitoring were conducted with some resentment by those responsible for them, now the attitude to them has changed and over the last year those involved have become “far more cooperative”. Some 17,000 controls were carried out in 2008. Charges. Another extremely delicate point is the relation between the local representatives of the Commission and the police authorities. This relation – underlines the Report – “continues to work well when requested. It’s vital that our structures, our procedures and our staff enjoy professional credibility and be able to share delicate information with the police, to be able to better gauge and manage the risk”. In this regard, the Report notes that, in 2008, 50 charges were brought with the involvement of 64 presumed victims. All the charges were notified to the police. In 29 cases, no action was taken due to insufficiency of evidence, or because the presumed abuser had already died, or because the inquiries conducted had established that the accusations were groundless. Covenants for the rehabilitation of offenders. A relation of ongoing cooperation has been established between the National Offender Management Service, an agency of the UK Ministry of Justice that monitors those who have committed abuses when they are reinserted in the community, and the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. So-called “covenants of care” have also been drawn up, in other words agreements to monitor those who have committed abuses but are released into the community to prevent them from re-offending. On the basis of these covenants – of which 178 now exist throughout the country – the individual assumes precise commitments relating to his/her conduct towards the Church. The Church has also organized 464 training events in England and Wales in 2008 which involved 5,565 participants and treated a wide range of issues of safeguard ranging from safety during pilgrimages to how to work in contact with vulnerable adults. A national conference is also held every two years. The last was held in October 2008 and the next is scheduled for March 2010. Over 130 delegates participated in the former.