Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse Report
ICSA - The Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse have published their investigation report examining the Roman Catholic Church’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse.
The report finds that the Church prioritised its own reputation above the welfare of children for decades and concludes that even today present Church leaders protected the Church rather than protecting victims and that Pope Francis' refusal to cooperate with the investigation demonstrates that he is at odds with his own espoused zero tolerance policy towards abuse in the Church.
We've released our investigation report examining the Roman Catholic Church’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse. It finds that the Church prioritised its own reputation above the welfare of children for decades.
Read it here - https://t.co/QnXGUU8mP6 pic.twitter.com/irjC0gr7Nq— InquiryCSA (@InquiryCSA) November 10, 2020
The full report can be downloaded from the ICSA website here.
The report concludes that a review of recent diocesan and religious institutes’ safeguarding files found an imbalance in the support offered to perpetrators – described as “extremely comprehensive” – and the support offered to victims which was in some cases entirely absent or, in one case, “grudgingly offered”. (see page 121). When reading the records the compassion for those accused of child sexual abuse was evident. However, when it came to the alleged victims, that was rarely visible in the reports. If there was consideration for their needs, it was rarely … with any sense of great compassion.
There remains a lack of focus on the needs of the victims. Whether pastoral, emotional or financial, the Church’s response needs to be more compassionate and more understanding of the lifelong damage that child sexual abuse can cause.
What can we conclude? I think it is safe to say we have been let down, once again, by the men who lead the Church, further eroding trust in their judgement.
As the clamour for Cardinal Vincent's resignation grows, I find myself increasingly bemused as to why he doesn't just go and give them the scalp they so desperately crave?
Given his age and the fact he has just tendered his resignation anyway, I think I would be desperate to have a rest!
But how can these ignorant lawyers fail to recognise the limitless virtue of the likes of Pope Francis; the ever merciful
ReplyDeleteAs for +Vinny....
I'm no expert but a cursory skim of the report gives me the impression of a heavy dose of recycling and a superficial grasp of what the church in England and Wales is actually like. The abuse is appalling but surely distinguishing between genuine and false claims must be an extremely time-consuming task.
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy to criticise our bishops but who is going to replace them?
I laughed at the suggestion that dioceses with no complaints were failing to report cases! Some of these actually have an acute shortage of clergy, no boarding schools (a typical focus of abuse allegations) and parishes being amalgamated with churches closed. To claim that a cleric was more concerned with the Church's reputation in any instance looks like a cheap shot- pure supposition.