Catholic Church in apology for abuse of children
Archbishop is forced to apologise over historic sex offences
THE Catholic Church has been forced to make a historic apology to victims of abuse.
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia said the Church in Scotland had been ‘shamed’ by child abuse and asked the victims for forgiveness.
It came after the McLellan Commission accused the Church of ‘allowing evil to survive’, while adopting a culture of secrecy and cover-up.
Bishops admitted to the commission that the Church had been more interested in protecting its
THE Catholic Church has been forced into a humiliating apology to victims of abuse, after a report found it had ‘allowed evil to survive’.
Philip Tartaglia, the Archbishop of Glasgow and Scotland’s most senior Catholic, said the Church was ‘shamed and pained’ by the child abuse.
In a historic statement, he asked forgiveness from victims who had suffered ‘inexcusable’ treatment.
The apology followed the report into allegations of sexual and physical abuse, published yesterday by an independent commission led by Dr Andrew McLellan, a former Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
The McLellan Commission has exposed a culture of secrecy and cover-up within the Church, while publishing admissions by bishops that it has been more interested in protecting its priests and its own reputation than helping victims.
In perhaps the most shocking case, an eight-year- old girl was repeatedly locked in a dark room by a nun who told her she was being punished because no one loved her and sexually abused her.
When the little girl confided in her priest during confession, he told the nun and they raped her together.
Giving evidence to the commission, this victim, like every other spoken to, said she felt let down by the Church’s response to her ordeal.
But while the victims received ‘abusive’ and ‘ threatening’ treatment after speaking out, guilty priests have been allowed quietly to retire or moved to another diocese.
The revelations of abuse, including 46 allegations between 2006 and 2012, have rocked the faith of Scotland’s Catholics – still reeling after the scandal that f orced Cardinal Keith O’Brien to step down in 2013 after admitting ‘sexual misconduct’ with male clergy.
The commission, set up in the aftermath of that scandal and allegations of ‘ systematic torture’ of pupils at the former Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in Invernessshire, recorded a decline in Catholic worship since they emerged. Parish priests report falling attendance at Mass and declining offerings, which they see as a direct result.
Dr McLellan described abuse as the ‘ greatest challenge’ facing the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Presenting the findings, he said: ‘ Our report gives the Catholic Church in Scotland a chance – an unrepeatable chance – to make things better. If this opportunity is not taken, survivors will know there is no hope for them within the church. If this opportunity is not taken, many Catholics will feel betrayed by their church. If this opportunity is not taken, the public credibility of the Catholic Church in Scotland will be destroyed.’
Making eight recommendations, he added that the Church needs to move ‘ from secrecy to openness, from systems which allow evil to survive to systems which ensure that good is done’.
A summary of the report, together with Archbishop Tartaglia’s apology, will be distributed in Scotland’s 500 Catholic parishes this weekend.
The apology was made at a Mass in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, during which the Archbishop said: ‘Child abuse is a horrific crime. That this abuse should have been carried out within the church, and by priests and members of religious orders, takes that abuse to another level.
‘Such actions are inexcusable and intolerable. The harm the perpetrators of abuse have caused is first and foremost to their victims, but it extends far beyond them, to their families and friends, as well as to the Church and wider society.
‘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.
‘We apologise to those who have found the Church’s response slow, unsympathetic or uncaring and reach out to them as we take up the recommendations of the McLellan Commission.’
The report was yesterday backed by Police Scotland, which is investigating scandals within the Church via its National Child Abuse Investigation Unit. A separate review of all historic cases of abuse, dating back almost 70 years from 1947 to 2005, is also due to report this year.
Legal experts say the apology could improve the case of victims in court or prompt the Church to settle if sued for compensation.
Speaking after presenting his findings, Dr McLellan said: ‘ Survivors are often not listened to and not believed. Priests are listened to and believed. Then victims can end up
‘Allowed evil to survive’
blaming themselves. Only when they are listened to can we be able to properly deal with all of the hurt and pain that has been caused.’
In many cases, victims felt they were dismissed because of mental health problems or drug or alcohol addictions, without recognition that
‘We are sorry. We ask forgiveness’
this could have been caused by the abuse they suffered.
After the Fort Augustus scandal came to light in 2013, the Bishop of Aberdeen said ‘all that can be done should be done for the victims’. But former pupils said in practice they received little help.
Of the 24 who spoke to the Commis- sion after it was set up in November 2013, all felt let down by the church.
But priests have been simply allowed to step down quietly, moved or ‘removed from ministry’ – limiting their contact with parishioners.
The report says: ‘Several examples were offered of priests being removed from ministry for a time to undergo treatment and risk assessment, but then being returned to ministry.
‘The distress caused by the discovery of an abusive priest in public ministry is manifold. Survivors described feeling shocked, disorientated and betrayed.’
The recommendations made by the 11-strong Commission, among them two Catholic bishops, included that victims must be told if a priest returns to a congregation.
It also called for the apology by the Church, regular training for priests in safeguarding parishioners from abuse, a whistleblowing policy and for the church to face external scrutiny rather than monitoring itself.
David Walls, a victim of sexual and physical abuse at Carlekemp, the preparatory school for Fort Augustus, said: ‘A big part of apologising is making amends. But the implementation of this plan will be the real apology, as far as I am concerned.’
Alan Draper, a former adviser to the church who now campaigns for victims, said: ‘This confirms what victims have been saying for a long time – that the reputation of the church and the protection of its priests has been put above them.
‘We have had lots of promises, but actions speak louder than words. This apology means nothing unless it is followed up by action.’