Attempts in 2023 to alert authorities in the Presbyterian Church to failings in its child safeguarding policies were ignored, a leading expert in the area has said.
Ian Elliott was speaking following Wednesday’s announcement that Presbyterian Moderator Rev Dr Trevor Gribben is to resign over his failure to deal adequately with child protection issues.
Mr Elliott, who played a key role in reforming child protection structures in the Catholic Church, said he had “previously offered advice to the [Presbyterian] Church, but this was refused”.
A Presbyterian himself, Mr Elliott said he was asked in 2023 to participate in an expert safeguarding panel for the Presbyterian Church.
READ MORE
“I agreed and used that body as a way of voicing my concerns about what may be happening. Unfortunately, these questions were not answered and I resigned after a number of months,” Mr Elliott said.
He said he believed Rev Gribben “was made aware of the issues that were raised about the safeguarding practice” in the church.
“I am not aware of any response made to those issues by him or anyone else,” Mr Elliott said.
Rev Gribben took office as Moderator – the Presbyterian Church’s chief public representative – last June and had been general secretary of the church, or clerk, at the time. He had held that position since 2014, having been deputy clerk since 2008.
At a press conference in Belfast on Wednesday, when Rev Gribben announced his intention to stand down, the acting clerk of the general assembly, Rev Dr David Allen, said the church initiated an investigation into its safeguarding practices last May after receiving information from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
A subsequent internal investigation identified a “number of situations between 2009 and 2021, with one as late as 2022, where we have failed to deliver an adequate safeguarding service”.
It involved three Presbyterian congregations, on both sides of the Border, “where we are aware of people who have come forward and spoken with us”, he said.
The investigation outlined failures “to make referrals to statutory authorities when these were required” in abuse cases as well as not responding “adequately to concerns expressed to us about individuals in congregations”.
There were also “situations where some offenders returning to worship in church, following referrals to us by statutory bodies, were inadequately monitored”.
Mr Elliott said his “primary concern then [in 2023] and remains today is to confirm that those who may have been harmed in the past are provided with appropriate support. Also those who may have caused harm to others need to be removed from post and the information passed on to the appropriate authorities without delay”.
He said he fully supported “the very helpful comments made by Lord Alderdice in the media where he describes PCI [Presbyterian Church in Ireland] as being a dysfunctional organisation. There is an obvious need for change”.
Former Alliance Party leader John Alderdice, who resigned as a Presbyterian elder in 2018 after three decades, said he hoped the announcement of Rev Gribben’s resignation was “a first step to things being rectified in the church”. He said he was surprised at “how little was revealed” at Wednesday’s press conference, saying: “I can only think there is much more to come.”
A 2022 report prepared by Mr Alderdice and former Presbyterian Minister Roy Simpson alleged a culture of bullying and abuse of power within the church.
“There seems to be a pattern of behaviour from a small number of officials in the Presbyterian Church and unfortunately the same people, the same perpetrators, crop up again and again,” it said.
The report was sent to the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland and the Charities Regulator in the Republic without consequence.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has around 185,000 members, with about 22,000 of those in the Republic.
It has been asked for comment on Mr Elliott’s remarks.
