The Catholic Church must move beyond apology and take the steps necessary to ensure that in future children are shielded from harm, writes Ian Elliott, who has been appointed to head the church's National Board for Child Protection
At this point the topic of child abuse mentioned on a radio programme makes many people want to reach out and turn off the broadcast.
It's not simply because so much media attention has been given to the subject; rather child abuse is a subject that gives rise to strong emotions in all who come in contact with it. Those feelings are predominantly negative. The issue, as a result, tends to be avoided by people wherever it is possible to do so.
Having worked in the field of child protection for over 30 years, I am very aware of that fact but I am also conscious of how damaging it can be to an abused child who is not adequately or appropriately responded to. A desire to avoid engaging with the issues can also lead to a limited and partial understanding of the problem, how it is caused, what it can result in and what steps can be taken to avoid it happening.
Lives are often destroyed by abuse, and it takes time, skill, and commitment to try to put them back together again. One of my hopes for this post is that through it, we will be able to help the Catholic Church to act as any good parent would. As an organisation that provides services for children, we must ensure that these are delivered with the safety and wellbeing of children constantly in mind.
Being able to keep children safe demands that you can identify how harm may come to them. A good parent is always aware of potential dangers to their child and takes steps to shield them from likely harm. In the same way, it would be my hope that through the work of the National Board for Child Protection, we would be able to help the church behave as a good parent and take steps that will prevent harm coming to any child or young person who is involved within it.
Where child abuse has been suspected as occurring in the past, the right responses have not always been made. This has been acknowledged and regret expressed. Apologies have been articulated and efforts made to provide support to those who need it in the aftermath of the abuse. Both were essential but neither is enough. It's time to move beyond apology, and helping the church to do so is central to my new job.
The mistakes in this area also represent valuable learning opportunities. It is this aspect of past experiences within the church that I particularly want to concentrate on. If mistakes are not learnt from and then that learning applied to present and future practice, they are not only painful but tragic. It is my belief that continuing to apply this learning is our most pressing task.
Moving beyond apology implies a desire to apply that learning, thus creating a safer environment for children to thrive in. What this requires is a complete commitment to achieving safety and to maintaining that safety through time for all our children. In the first instance, the national board will work to achieve this within all churches and church sponsored activities, through acting as any good parent would.
Our interest in safeguarding the child will focus on the child while in the church. But we will not view the child as being separate from the other environments and organisations that provide support. We will want to develop collaborative working relationships with all other providers of services for securing the best outcomes for all of our children, but particularly those who are most vulnerable and least well provided for in our communities.
Through initiatives the church embarked upon, we are beginning a journey that has one clear end in mind and that is the safeguarding of all of our children, and particularly those that are vulnerable. I have always been struck by the wisdom contained in an old African proverb which gave Hillary Clinton the title for one of her books: It takes a whole village to raise a child.
I believe it takes a whole church to safeguard a single child. It is this level of ownership and engagement that the board is seeking from everyone within the church, in what has to date been seen as a deeply distressing issue that most seek to avoid. Moving beyond avoidance and apology and forward in partnership with other organisations, requires no more and no less of the church than acting as a good parent would. It requires action, but above all it requires engagement.
• Ian Elliottis newly appointed chief executive officer of the Catholic Church's National Board for Child Protection. Previously, he was director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Belfast