MANCHESTER, England (CNS): The Catholic Church in England and Wales has announced a review of its measures to protect children from sexual abuse.
An independent group will examine and review arrangements made for child protection and the prevention of abuse within the Catholic Church in England and Wales and will make recommendations to the bishops’ conference.
The move was announced on September 12 by Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster.
In a September 12 radio interview with the BBC prior to the announcement of the new guidelines, Archbishop Murphy-O’Connor said the purpose of the review was to ensure that the mistakes made in the past were not repeated in the future.
“I apologise very sincerely from my heart for any suffering that has been caused by child abuse by a priest or religious or Church worker,” the archbishop said. “That’s why I’ve launched the review, and I want to make sure that mistakes that were made in the past will never be repeated in the future.”
