A vow of stability might not be an oath of omertà but its effect is considered to have contributed to 30 years of criminal assault and cover-up at the Benedictine abbey and school in Ealing, as catalogued in last week’s independent inquiry report, leading to calls for the protection of whistleblowers
“Guard and defend me from the foe malign” – the words from “Soul of My Saviour”, sung at evening Mass at Ealing Abbey last weekend, never seemed so poignant, coming as they did just days after publication of the damning report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) into the abbey and its adjacent school, St Benedict’s. The 125-page report chronicled how defenceless children had been left unguarded as people they trusted – monks and lay teachers – had abused them and others had failed to take action. As the newly elected abbot, Dominic Taylor, said in his public apology at the end of Mass: “Any abuse of children is wicked and deeply sinful. We accept the inquiry’s findings that actions were not taken that could have reduced serious risk and harm to the children in our care.”
Both Ealing Abbey and the wider English Benedictine Congregation have declined to comment on the report, other than to utter apologies. They expected it to be harsh but seem shell-shocked by IICSA’s accusations of failure, incompetence and lack of care towards the vulnerable children in their charge – what IICSA calls “a culture of cover-up and denial”.