Central to the protection of children and vulnerable adults from predatory priests and others in the Churches is the application of a spirituality that will always put the victim first, argue two experts in the field who are themselves survivors of clerical sexual abuse

Several inquiries, investigations and television documentaries have revealed shocking details of how clerics at the top of the spiritual tree – exploiting the deference that goes with their presumed sacred status – have abused children, been complicit in the cover-up of abusers’ crimes or have failed to establish or properly manage safeguarding guidelines.

The majority of priests and ministers across the Churches and denominations are pastorally sensitive and attentive to safeguarding; the pastoral work priests do is often not well-enough honoured by the institutional Church, and their own needs frequently neglected. But when the spiritual qualities that bishops and priests stand for are not lived out with integrity, they are worth nothing.

Abuse in the Churches can take many forms but we will focus on the clerical sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults. It is vital to recognise that good safeguarding involves more than simply protocols, policies and mechanisms. Genuine safeguarding is about ensuring the protection of the most vulnerable: guarding the reputation of people in authority, or protecting the hierarchical institution from criticism, should have no part in it.