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“Nothing should stand in the way” of the changes needed to protect children from sexual abuse in the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury said.
It comes after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said the Church had failed to protect children and had a culture in which abusers “could hide.”
Justin Welby said the Church “must do whatever it takes” to rectify its flaws, and said the findings of the IICSA report were a “great wake-up call.
“We have to do better,” he said.
“And I want to show that I can do better.”
The IICSA report said 390 clergy and other Church leaders were convicted of abuse between the 1940s and 2018.
The Church of England defended the alleged perpetrators rather than protecting children and young people from sexual predators, according to the report.
He also found examples of clergymen ordained despite having a history of sex crimes against minors.
The report admitted that there had been “a number of major improvements” in child protection practices in the Church of England in recent years, but the chair of the research, Professor Alexis Jay, added that it was “vital” that it improve the how she responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.
- The Church of England ‘allowed child abusers to hide’
- How Child Sexual Abuse Research Works
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Welby said the findings of the IICSA report were “deeply shameful” and “shameful.”
“I think the whole system has been broken, the way we deal with this, and it must move towards, as the report suggests, much more independent oversight of protection,” he said.
“(One) in which there is a clearly assigned responsibility and it is not in the hands of those who are, in a phrase that was used in the investigation, seeking to mark their own duties.”
He said he believed the Church had been “very bad in supporting those who are most deeply affected by the abuse allegations,” and said: “All the carelessness in this is shocking.”
“We need to focus and put victims and survivors at the center of our attention now,” he said.
“We need a remediation system in place very soon; we have already started a pilot plan and nothing should get in the way, we must do whatever it takes to implement it now and this report is a huge wake-up call.”
He added: “We have to do better and I want to show that I can do better.”
In 2018, 2,504 safeguard concerns were reported to dioceses in England about children or vulnerable adults.
The IICSA report is based on public inquiry hearings held in July 2019 that investigated safeguarding issues in the Church of England and the Church in Wales, each of which is within the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Gilo, who was abused by a clergyman when he was young, says survivors are still angry at the Church
After the report was released on Tuesday, a victim of abuse, who says he was raped by a clergyman in London more than 40 years ago, told the BBC that it would take “courage” from the Church and its leaders to “save itself. herself and redeem herself. “
Gilo, who asked us not to use his last name, previously told the BBC that he had attempted more than 20 attempts to contact high-ranking members of the Church after his decision to report the attacks, but often received no response.
The Church eventually agreed that he was guilty and reached a financial settlement with him.
On Tuesday, Gilo said that many survivors still felt a “tremendous sense of anger and lack of trust” in the Church.
Gilo, whose abuser has since died, said he believed the Church’s recently appointed chief safeguard bishop, Dr. Jonathan Gibbs, was eager to make a difference, but that “there must be a real change” in the culture of church.
“Once survivors see real help, and real support begins to flow to them from a Church that has long expressed support but has not provided it … there could be a tipping point.”
What is child sexual abuse research?
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales is investigating complaints against local authorities, religious organizations, the armed forces and public and private institutions, as well as against persons in the public eye.
Following the death of BBC presenter Jimmy Savile in 2011, hundreds of people demonstrated to say that he had abused them as children.
The spotlight has also focused on sexual assaults carried out in schools, children’s homes and on NHS sites.
At the same time, there have been reports of past failures on the part of the police and prosecutors to properly investigate the allegations.
The IICSA was established in 2015, and then-Home Secretary Theresa May said it would “expose those failures and learn the lessons” of the past.
In 2018, the investigation published an interim report with 18 recommendations, some of which have been implemented. Her other periodicals include research reports and general statistics.
