Do you have information to share about survivor engagement?

31 July 2025

“I am a survivor of abuse in the Catholic church, and I choose to work alongside the CSSA in the hope that their work helps prevent any person again being traumatised in the way I was. If you have information you think the CSSA team need to know, please just get in touch.” 

Michael (survivor of church-related abuse) 

 (Michael’s words are his own, and have not been changed) 

Public call for information  

At the CSSA we are here to independently judge safeguarding in Catholic church bodies across England and Wales, and to publicly share the results. We do this to be transparent, to offer assurance and to help drive up safeguarding standards. We are making progress, and we have a long way to go. 

Our team is currently doing a thematic inspection of survivor engagement across all dioceses, eparchies and religious life groups in England and Wales. To do this as effectively as possible, we welcome information from anybody who feels they have something to tell us about survivor engagement in any of these church bodies in England or Wales. 

We understand what a huge step this can be. Whether you are a survivor, or have an experience around survivor engagement, we would value your input. 

You can email us, and we can call you back if we need to understand better the information you provide. Wherever possible, we need evidence or specific details which can help us build an accurate picture. 

The purpose of this public call is to invite information from anyone who has had recent contact with a Diocese or Religious Life Group (RLG). This contact may be in relation to issues that are new, ongoing, or connected to non-recent abuse. Although we cannot re-open cases, we do not wish to limit what you choose to share. This information will support our assessment of the effectiveness of current safeguarding arrangements and help prevent abuse.

Any information you offer us will be treated confidentially with one of our expert and experienced team members. We will not share your confidential information with the church body concerned unless you specifically wish us to. But we will take it into account when we assess their safeguarding.  If we feel that there are people at risk now, we may intervene or report to statutory agencies any unreported crime. 

We will respect you, and we will listen to what you say. 

If you have any information about safeguarding in a religious life setting in England and Wales, please get in touch. 

We’d like to thank Michael for his words and for his courage in working with us. Thank you, Michael. 

Ways to contact us: 

Click HERE to complete a form with your information which comes directly to the team working on this thematic inspection of survivor engagement.  

Further information: 

 Click  HERE to read more details about what we do with information which comes into us. 

Click HERE to access free, confidential support services at Safe Spaces. 

Click HERE to read some of our published audit reports of religious life groups.