In its first thematic report of safeguarding across the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) today (Monday 6 July) publishes its findings of how survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church experience the Church today. Based on evidence from survivors, church leaders, and those working in safeguarding, the report highlights how communications, consistency and compassion for survivors are fundamental to safeguarding. It makes recommendations to embed a ‘one-church approach’ to survivor engagement – to end inconsistencies -and what some survivors describe as a ‘postcode lottery’ of care.
The report found that communications is the strongest driver of survivor experience. Poor communication commonly feels to a survivor as a lack of accountability. One survivor said, “I didn’t know what was happening or why”. The report also found that survivors experience safeguarding in very different ways depending on where they are. One survivor described this as “the luck of the draw”. Continuity of care is vital, with one survivor describing feeling like they had been ‘dropped’. “When the paperwork began, the care stopped” a survivor reported.
Good practice does exist, and the Church is increasingly recognising the importance of survivor-centred practice. The report recognises that many safeguarding professionals are working with ‘seriousness, commitment and care’. The CSSA recommends that good practice is shared widely. Survivors do not experience the Catholic Church as a set of separate legal entities, but as one faith community and safeguarding structure. Overall, the CSSA found that survivor-centred safeguarding is better described as ‘emerging and uneven’ rather than ‘embedded and assured’.
A reliance on goodwill of individuals is not enough and there needs to be a shift to a more consistent operating model. The Inspectorate poses 12 questions for dioceses, religious life groups, eparchies and ordinariates. It also calls for the newly formed Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding to lead, with urgency, on helping the church embed good practice. The inspectorate will hold to account the Church during its forthcoming inspection cycle of individual church bodies.
Said Mike Cunningham, Chair, CSSA: “For our first thematic report assessing evidence from England and Wales as a whole, survivor engagement was the first priority. For people abused by the Catholic Church, their hurt is profound and life-long. We have heard from survivors, how the support they receive can make all the difference between feeling respected and safe, or at worse, having their trauma compounded by bad practice. We have expectations now of Church leaders, and of the new Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding, and we will support them all we can to address our recommendations.”
Steve Ashley, CEO, CSSA added: “How the Church engages with survivors is not an optional add-on to safeguarding – it is safeguarding. Their experiences, their voices, their needs must be at the heart of all safeguarding practice. We have learnt this ourselves and continue to learn. We will monitor, and hold to account, the Church in its survivor engagement, just as we hold a mirror to ourselves, too.”
Nicola Rose, one of the report authors, added: “We would like to thank every single survivor who had the courage to come forward and trust us with their experience. Without them, we would have no report. Because of them, progress can be made for other survivors.”
ENDS
Notes:
Content warning: The report contains accounts of abuse and its impact on survivors. It includes discussion of disclosures of abuse, safeguarding concerns, and the ways in which Church bodies have responded to those affected. We recognise that reading this material may be distressing, particularly for survivors and those supporting them.
Readers are encouraged to engage with the report in a way that feels safe for them and to seek support if needed.
Free, independent, confidential support for adults affected by church related
abuse is available from Safe Spaces England and Wales at
- www.safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk and 0300 303 1056.
- Journalists: For interviews, please contact Sarah Gleadall – sarah.gleadall@catholicsafegaurding.org.uk / 07950 726 731
To access the report:
- Survivors’ Experience of the Catholic Church -You can read the Summary Report HERE.
- You can read the full report HERE