Scottish Catholic Observer

The McLellan report into how the Scottish Church handles allegation of sexual abuse has said the Church must ‘put survivors first’ from now on and apologise publicly for past wrongdoing..

Dr Andrew McLellan (above), the former Church of Scotland Moderator who the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland asked to chair the independent review, said at the landmark report’s release this morning his commission had found there was ‘no doubt’ that ‘abuse of the most serious kind has taken place within the Church in Scotland.’ He also said that dealing with this was the ‘greatest challenge facing the whole Catholic Church in Scotland.’

He then outlined eight key recommendations the Church can follow to ensure it is ‘a safe place for all.’ The Church has indicated it will embrace the findings of the report.

Firstly and most importantly the report says the Church ‘must reach out to survivors,’ listen to survivors and make a ‘public apology to all survivors of abuse within the Cahtolic Church.’

“As the president of the Bishops’ Conference, and on behalf of all the Bishops of Scotland, I want to offer a profound apology to all those who have been harmed and who have suffered in any way as a result of actions by anyone within the Catholic Church,” Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow said in response to the first recommendation.

“Child abuse is a horrific crime. That this abuse should have been carried out within the Church, and by priests and religious, takes that abuse to another level…

“I would like to assure the survivors of abuse that the Catholic Bishops of Scotland are shamed and pained by what you have suffered. We say sorry. We ask forgiveness.”

Further recommendations say the Church must rewrite it’s safeguarding policy, introduce independent monitoring of its safeguarding procedures, measure their ongoing effectiveness, and ensure the Church’s approach to safeguarding is consistent.

The report also calls on the Church to: Commit to ensure no one within the Church ever prevents justice from being done; ensure high quality safeguarding training is widespread and continous across the Church; and create a new ‘theology of safeguarding.’

Dr McLellan said that these recommendations ‘can be measured’ and the Church should be able to demonstrate ‘one year from now, three years from now, how much progress has been made.’ He said he believed monitoring this progress was ‘so important’ because our report gives the Church ‘the beginning of a way to change.’

“Change will come when—and only when—the whole membership of the Church own this desire for change and embrace the agenda set out in this report,” he added. “If they take this oppurtunity the Church will be a safer place for all.”

Commenting on the report this morning, Bishop Joseph Toal, the Scottish bishop responsible for safeguarding, said: “In accepting fully the recommendations in this report, the Catholic Church in Scotland renews its commitment to protect and safeguard everyone in our parish communities.

Tina Campbell, the Scottish Church’s national safeguarding co-ordinator, added: “The detailed and informed analysis of the McLellan Commission will be incorporated fully into the work being carried out by the Catholic Church in Scotland.”

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