Former Kirk moderator Dr Andrew McLellan hits out over "astonishing" delay in abuse response from Catholic Church
By Stephen Naysmith, Herald Scotland
THE Catholic Church has been accused of failing to establish contact with victims of historic child abuse as it pledged to do in response to an independent review.
The Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan, a former Church of Scotlandmoderator who carried out an independent external review of child protection and safeguarding policies within the Catholic Church, said it was “astonishing” no contact had been made with victims’ groups.
When The McLellan Commission report was delivered in 2015, the Catholic Church pledged to implement all of its findings. These included a pledge that “justice must be done and justice must be seen to be done for those who have been abused and for those against whom allegations of abuse are made”.
However, a spokesperson for the Catholic Church insisted “interaction with survivors continues” and contact by its very nature was confidential. The spokesperson said: “The Church is now close to full implementation of the recommendations contained in the McLellan report.
“Safeguarding guidelines have been comprehensively revised and updated, while interaction with survivors continues.
“Crucially, no individual or organisation has a monopoly on survivor representation or interaction. Contact with survivors, by its nature confidential, is taking place across the Church. Many survivors do not identify with or join national groups and such groups should not presume to speak for them.” Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, as president of the Bishops’ Conference, apologised to anyone who had been harmed or who had suffered in any way as a result of actions by anyone within the Catholic Church.
He added: “We apologise to those who have found the Church’s response slow, unsympathetic or uncaring and reach out to them as we take up the recommendations of the McLellan commission.”
The Church says it has set up an independent review group headed by Baroness Helen Liddell to take forward the commission’s recommendations and claims it has been consulting with survivors.
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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