Abuse: Catholic Church of England and Wales, “renewed commitment to protect children and vulnerable people”

“We welcome the final report of the public enquiry that will be thoroughly examined and we make our unreserved apologies to the people who have been hurt by abuse in the Church. We reaffirm our commitment to intensify and improve the work we have done so that all the children and vulnerable people who risk being abused will be protected”. With these words, the Catholic Church of England and Wales replied, in a release, to the final report of the public enquiry (Independent inquiry into child sexual abuse) into abuse in the British institutions, which was started by the former prime minister Theresa May back in 2015, after the scandal of Jimmy Savile, the famous BBC DJ who had cruelly abused innocent victims for years, covered by his colleagues and bosses. The enquiry, which lasted seven years, investigated the management organisations of multiple institutions, from Westminster Parliament to local authorities, to find out how such abuse could be committed. Part of the report is focussed on the Catholic Church of England and Wales and the thousands of cases of abuse it committed from 1970 to 2015, against over 900 people connected with the Church. The release in reply to the results of the enquiry, drafted by the “Catholic council”, the board that the Church set up in 2015 to support the public enquiry, also says that “the Catholic Church will at no point stop in its journey to protect the people who come into contact with it and became a safe place for all”.
Valentina Bombelli