Father Christopher Jamison has returned to his duties as Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) after police found no evidence to support an allegation of historic abuse.
In a statement, the EBC confirmed: “Earlier this year, the police opened an investigation in relation to Abbot President Christopher Jamison concerning an allegation of non-recent abuse. The Abbot President informed the Holy See that he was voluntarily stepping aside from his duties and accepted restrictions on his ministry in accordance with standard procedures. All agencies as required by the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) were notified, as were the Superiors of the English Benedictine Congregation, the IICSA and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
"The police requested that no public statement be made.
"After a full investigation, the police said they found no evidence to support the allegation and were taking no further action. The statutory authorities said it was appropriate for Abbot Christopher to return to his duties. All restrictions were subsequently removed and the Holy See restored him to his duties as Abbot President."
Abbot President Christopher Jamison said: “I welcome the opportunity to return to fulfilling my function as Abbot President, where I will continue in my work to improve safeguarding and redress across the EBC.”
Dom Christopher, former Abbot of Worth Abbey, was appointed Abbot President of the English Benedictines in 2017.
The English Benedictine Congregation has been the subject of a case study by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. There are ten English Benedictine Congregation monasteries in England and none in Wales. The inquiry focused at first on the independent schools associated with Ampleforth and Downside.
In its report on this case study, IICSA said: "The EBC is not pyramidical in structure; it has no recognisable line management oversight. Each abbot or abbess has responsibility for their own community, which is autonomous. Nor does the monastic order fit neatly into the Catholic diocesan structure, meaning that the relationship to a diocesan bishop is usually collaborative rather than hierarchical. It is difficult to describe the appalling sexual abuse inflicted over decades on children aged as young as 7 at Ampleforth School, and 11 at Downside School. Ten individuals, mostly monks, connected to these two institutions have been convicted or cautioned in relation to offences involving sexual activity with a large number of children, or offences concerning pornography."
A public hearing on a third EBC abbey and school, Ealing and St Benedict’s, was held earlier this year.
There is no suggestion that Dom Jamison was involved in any way in any of the incidents discussed at the IICSA hearings.
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