Statement on the IICSA report

The Conference of Religious of England and Wales (CoR) would like to express profound sadness and sorrow to all those who are victims and survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy and members of religious congregations.

We thank IICSA for bringing to light the acute suffering that has been inflicted over many years and our failures in safeguarding including engagement with victims and survivors. We also thank the victims and survivors for their courage in coming forward.  We are wholeheartedly committed to learning lessons from this Inquiry and making every effort to assist religious congregations to embed a safeguarding culture at all levels of religious life.

As Christians we approach safeguarding with a determination to protect people from harm – especially when they are particularly vulnerable. We acknowledge that in the past the needs of the vulnerable have not been paramount. We undertake to remedy this through a new approach to safeguarding within the Church.

Details: communications@corew.org