April 18, 2001
LONDON -- All clergy, staff and volunteers in the Roman Catholic Church in Britain should be subject to police checks to stamp out sexual abuse of children, a report commissioned by the church said Tuesday. Also, the church must not hush up allegations of abuse, added the report of a commission headed by Lord Nolan, a former appeals judge. "We believe that the Catholic Church in England and Wales should become an example of best practice in the prevention of child abuse and in responding to it," Nolan said. Between 1995 and 1999, 21 of the 5,600 Catholic priests in England and Wales were convicted of offenses against children, and two archbishops have been embroiled in controversies about their handing of pedophiliac priests.
The report said that the church should set up a national child protection unit and that every parish should have a designated child protection representative. Anyone who refuses to consent to a records check should not be appointed, the report said.