Vatican yet to give official approval to church safeguarding norms

A senior lawyer has criticised the Vatican for failing to issue its official approval to the Church in England and Wales’ child-­protection procedures, writes Elena Curti.

Richard Scorer, who has represented victims in some of the highest-profile abuse cases, said the Holy See had yet to issue its recognitio for child protection procedures set out in the Lord Nolan and Baroness (Julia) Cumberlege reports. In 2007, Baroness Cumberlege insisted that the Church get the recognitio, which the United States Bishops’ Conference received for its child-safeguarding norms in 2002.

In his new book, Betrayed, Mr Scorer described as a “betrayal” the English and Welsh Church’s failure to meet the needs of abuse victims and also calls for the Church to introduce a code of conduct for priests in their relations with women. A code had been drawn up by the Church’s then child-­protection body, Copca, in 2006 but was rejected by the bishops.  

Mr Scorer is head of the abuse unit at the law firm Slater and Gordon. Earlier in his career he represented victims in some of the most high-profile clerical-abuse cases in England and Wales, including that of Michael Hill who was convicted of sexually abusing children in his Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. The lawyer believes there is a continuing reluctance in Rome, and among some clergy in England and Wales, to endorse the Paramountcy Principle, which holds that the safety and welfare of children must always come first. This principle was accepted by both the Nolan and Cumberlege reviews. By granting the recognitio, the Vatican would confirm that the safeguarding norms in England and Wales conform with canon law.

But Danny Sullivan, the chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, stressed that the child-protection norms in England and Wales had been sent to Rome in 2012 and are seen as “a model of good practice in the Vatican and in the wider Catholic world”. He said that it was having positive discussions with the Holy See over the possibility of receiving the recognitio and had not encountered any resistance to this ­possibility.

Mr Sullivan added that support for victims of abuse is an “area of continuous development” and pointed to a new scheme to assist survivors in the Diocese of Hallam.