NCJ Number
243180
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 21 Issue: 6 Dated: November - December 2012 Pages: 427-439
Date Published
December 2012
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Discussion of the declared policies of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, since 2001, with regard to the ongoing status of priests convicted in criminal courts of offences against children is presented.
Abstract
Discussion of the declared policies of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, since 2001, with regard to the ongoing status of priests convicted in criminal courts of offences against children is presented. The extent to which these policies have followed recommendations 77 and 78 of A Program for Action (Nolan, 2001a) and the extent to which they have resulted in the laicisation (removal from the clerical state) of priests are both explored, using national data and with reference to two particular cases from the Diocese of Salford. The potentially adverse impact on victims and survivors of any mismatch between the rhetoric of policy and the reality of practice by the Church is emphasized. Data presented demonstrate that, between November 2001 and September 2010, a majority (64 percent) of relevantly convicted and sentenced priests had not been laicised as would be expected. Suggestion is made that the Church is inhibited in carrying out its declared policies because it is attempting to serve legitimacy communities beyond victims and survivors of clerical abuse. Full commitment to the paramountcy principle by the Church and genuinely independent external scrutiny of its relevant decisionmaking processes are recommended. Abstract published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.