Tags: Abuse
The pope's empty words and meaningless gestures won't tackle clerical abuse
One of the pope's Christmas messages urged clerical abusers to hand themselves in. Keith Porteous Wood asks how effective... Read More »
How secularism protects people who have religious faith
For Interfaith Week 2018, campaigns officer Megan Manson explains how the National Secular Society's work protects... Read More »
Time to end criminality and cover-up in the Catholic Church
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has turned its attention to abuse in the Catholic Church's archdiocese... Read More »
The Catholic Church’s record on abuse demands accountability, not more meaningless apologies
As the pope prepares to visit Ireland, NSS president Keith Porteous Wood says the international community must confront... Read More »
Religious power and privilege failed the victims in the Peter Ball affair
In this long read NSS president Keith Porteous Wood explains how all arms of the law co-operated to protect the now... Read More »
Child protection must come before the reputation of institutions like Ampleforth and Downside
Richard Scorer says a damning report on two leading Catholic schools' approach to safeguarding is a reminder of the... Read More »
Anglicanism's 'purple circle' of bishops cannot be trusted over child abuse
NSS president Keith Porteous Wood reflects on the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's hearings into the... Read More »
The Church of England provided the perfect cover for Peter Ball’s offending
Opening statement by lawyer Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon, also an NSS vice president, at the IICSA inquiry's... Read More »
The seal of the confessional and child abuse: a religious privilege too far
Some clerics want exemptions from reporting requirements on abuse when it's revealed in the confessional. Accommodating... Read More »
Bishops must be accountable – and not just to themselves
Abridged version of the winding-up speech by lawyer Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon, also an NSS vice president,... Read More »
Church dysfunctionality laid bare by child sexual abuse inquiry
As the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse turns its attention to the Church of England, Keith Porteous Wood... Read More »
The C of E cannot be trusted to deal with safeguarding complaints in house
On the first day of hearings into child sexual abuse in the Church of England, NSS vice-president Richard Scorer told... Read More »
Only reform of the law can tackle the Church's temptation to cover up abuse
Richard Scorer reflects on three weeks of damning evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. He... Read More »
Abuse Inquiry to investigate Benedictine institutions
An upcoming hearing of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will be an opportunity to examine the reality... Read More »
The legacy of decades of abuse in a Catholic children's home
Hundreds of children died at Smyllum Park, a home in Lanarkshire run by the Catholic Church between 1864 and 1981.... Read More »
Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's cover-up of child abusers must be a lesson to the Catholic Church
Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the former Archbishop of Westminster, died on 1 September. NSS executive director Keith Porteous... Read More »
The confessional shouldn’t shield child abuse from reporting
The Australian abuse commission is right not to exempt the confessional from reporting obligations, and its rigour... Read More »
Newcastle: what's faith got to do with it?
A group of mainly Muslim men has been convicted for sexual abuse in another British city. Amid a predictable response,... Read More »
Church of England’s links with insurer undermines justice for survivors of clergy abuse
Anglican abuse victims believe the Church's close links with its insurer results in lower settlements to victims.... Read More »
The Church can’t be allowed to carry on marking its own homework
The Church concealed evidence of criminality and colluded to protect an abusive bishop. Only external oversight will... Read More »
The Catholic Church’s abuse scandal shows no sign of abating
After forty years the Catholic Church is still more interested in protecting itself and its clerical culture than... Read More »
Who is running Ireland – the Government or the Church?
The reach and power of the Catholic Church has waned considerably in recent years in Ireland. But there are troubling... Read More »
Mass grave full of children's remains at Catholic home reveals atrocities on a massive scale
With the latest revelations about human remains in an Irish Mother and Baby home, Keith Porteous Wood, executive director... Read More »
Religious privilege undermines abuse victims’ access to justice
Richard Scorer, a specialist child abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon draws attention to organisations seeking more... Read More »
Church documents expose an even bigger cover-up than suspected in the Peter Ball case
The recent release of more internal Church of England documents relating to the Peter Ball case exposes an even bigger... Read More »
