Mixed reception for Pope’s new safeguarding measures

The Church’s national safeguarding coordinator in Scotland has welcomed the Pope’s decision to hold bishops accountable for negligence in child sex-abuse cases, writes Brian Morton.

Tina Campbell wrote in the  Scottish Catholic Observer that the Pope’s new measures, announced in an apostolic letter on 4 June, demonstrated the Church’s “serious and ongoing commitment” to the protection of minors.

But Alan Draper, a former adviser on sex abuse in the Church, claimed that Campbell was being “complacent” and warned of a potential “schism” in the Church over the issue. He welcomed the Pope’s announcement but said that survivors were “sceptical of the so-called new policy, which sets up yet another internal process”. He said that the Vatican had long had the power under canon law to deal with negligent bishops but had consistently failed to implement it. “There is a danger that this new process will be little used or allowed to drag on for years,” he said.

The Church has been accused by survivors’ groups of dragging its feet on the issue of accountability and objectivity.

Alan Draper repeated the call, endorsed by the McLellan Commission which reviewed safeguarding policies, procedures and practice within the Catholic Church in Scotland, for an independent audit in every diocese and religious order. He described the delay in the Church on this front as a “ploy”. He added that he had asked the bishops to involve survivors in their implementation plans and in any groups established to change practices. “I just get weasel words and no action … They are treating the laity as fools,” he said.