Tearing down the wall

The website www.cedar.uk.net is the Catholic Church of England and Wales’ response – the first of the kind – to the problem of domestic abuses. Priests and those in charge in the parish can log on the website for hotline numbers providing information, support and material to raise awareness on the problem within parishes; along with prayer-notes that can be affixed in the parish. The new website was launched on December 13 during a press conference in London by the auxiliary bishop of Birmingham Msgr. David McGough, by Elizabeth Davies, in charge of the family and marriage department for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and by Helen O’Brien, director of Caritas Social Action Network. Elizabeth Davies explained to SIR Europe why the Church decided to address this question. Why did you decide to launch this resource now?“During the investigation on the death of Julia Pemberton and her son William, shot dead by their husband-father in November 2003, I was summoned by the person in charge of the enquiry who wished to know whether the Catholic Church had drawn up guidelines to address cases of domestic abuse. The Pembertons were good Catholics. They had been married for 23 years before Julia asked a divorce, a year before being killed by her husband. The investigation brought up major flaws by the police, who had been unable to save the woman. However, the question of the investigatory commission touched our conscience and we thus decided to establish a committee of experts to see how far the Church had gone in addressing domestic abuses”.Who were the members of the Committee?“Caritas Social Action, whose mission is to help children, adults and families living on the margins, the Catholic Safeguarding advisory service, tasked with implementing the new guidelines for the protection of minors inside the Church, the Department for marriage and the family within the Bishops’ Conference, and the National Board of Catholic women, that promotes the role of women in the Catholic Church”. What was the next step?“We looked into the ongoing initiatives within the Catholic Church and we realized that very few dioceses had no committees of experts, resources or guidelines to address cases of domestic abuse. The problem was communication. The fact that these resources did exist was often ignored. For example, the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle had organized an outstanding conference on this subject, which had not been acknowledged by the person responsible for the Family. In the diocese of Shrewsbury, the Catholic Children association, a charity of the Catholic Church, was so efficient that even social services used it as a model. But the other Catholic Church organizations that deal with family issues in the same diocese such as the Family Life department and the Support service, were unaware”.Thus the greatest problem was the unawareness on the part of existing resources? “Yes, but it was also important to realize that domestic abuses represent a serious problem that must be dealt with and that the victims ought to be given appropriate support. In July 2009 the diocese of Porstmouth, which the Pemberton were members of, organized a Domestic Abuse awareness-Day attended also by Frank Mullane, the brother of Julia Pemberton. Frank Mullane made it clear that what is most important is to seriously face the problem of domestic abuse and ensure that those affected seek the support of the relevant services and be informed of the hotline number for assistance and protection”.How are you planning to spread the news of the website?“In every parish there now is a person in charge of ensuring that the new guidelines on the protection of minors are implemented. This network could also address the question of domestic abuses. In November the new resources were presented to over thirty people who had been working in the child protection network and Caritas”. On the website there’s an interview with the archbishop of Birmingham, Msgr. Bernard Longley, who explains that some of the passages of the Holy Scriptures could be misinterpreted to justify the violence of a husband against his wife…“It’s correct. In fact, the Irish Bishops’ Conference has obtained that these passages of the Holy Scriptures be not read during the Mass or during marriage celebration, which have been replaced by other passages. These are, Colossians 3:18-21 and Ephesians 5:21-24”.