PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE 14th June 2011

HEAD OF CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ENGLAND & WALES ASKS WIRRAL SURVIVOR GROUP TO HELP DEVELOP CHURCH’S RESPONSE TO VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, has asked Graham Wilmer, the founder of Wirral based survivor group, The Lantern Project, to work with the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) and the Catholic Safeguarding Services Agency (CSAS) in the development of the Church’s response to victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Mr Wilmer, a survivor of child abuse at a Catholic school, founded the Lantern Project in 2003, with fellow survivor David Williams, and since then, the project has worked with more than 2000 victims of child abuse, male and female, referred to the project by Social Services, Merseyside police, GP practices, the Probation Service, the Prison Service and other agencies in Wirral and beyond.

The Archbishop’s request comes after Wilmer sought his support last year to help set up a national commission for truth and reconciliation, for all victims of childhood sexual abuse in the UK (www.ctruk.org.uk), not just victims of Catholic clergy abuse.

Initially, the Archbishop would not be drawn on the proposal, but instead, asked Wilmer to talk to the head of the Church’s National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC), Bill Kilgallon, a former Catholic priest, who sat on the Cumberlege Commission in 2006-2007.

“The discussions I had with Kilgallon,” said Wilmer, “showed that NCSC had no clear vision or direction in its attempts to create a more holistic, appropriate response to victims of sexual abuse, committed by priests and nuns. They seemed very keen to persuade the media, however, that they were doing something constructive, and they used the fact they were talking to myself and several other survivors groups (One in Four, The Survivors’ Trust, MACSAS and NAPAC) as evidence, at a press conference last year, that they were actually making progress.

“Since then, very little has happened, so I wrote again to Vincent Nichols and asked him to back my CTRUK initiative, or at least allow me to say he was supportive of the idea. This time, he was seemed more interested, and urged me work with NCSC and CSAS, saying: ‘I think it is important that you continue to engage with our National Commission and CSAS, even if it seems to be progressing slowly.’

“Just after the last election, Kilgallon told me that his contacts in the new coalition government had shown little interest in a national commission for victims, and I have since written several times to the Cabinet Secretary, “Gus” O’Donnel, to ask him to talk to the Prime Minister about the idea. Sir Gus was head boy at the same school where my abuse taught, so his support would have helped. So far, he hasn’t even had the courtesy to reply to me, so it seems Kilgallon was right about the government’s thoughts about victims of child abuse.”

END

Note to Editors:

The Lantern Project’s CTRUK initiative proposes:

1. To provide a non-judgmental forum, through which victims of sexual abuse can submit testimony in person or by other means to enable their voices to be heard, and the harm they suffered acknowledged and responded to.

2. To evaluate the damage caused to victims of sexual abuse over their lifetime, and to quantify its true cost to individuals and to our society.

3. To develop and effect the delivery of a comprehensive therapeutic intervention and support programme that will enable victims to reach a nationally recognised and measurable standard for recovery.

For further information, contact Graham Wilmer on 07866 508094.

CTRUK Research Project

Research project

The Lantern Project would like to hear from any universities interested in working with us to achieve the 2nd and 3rd items listed on the home page of this web site.

These are:

2. To evaluate the damage caused to victims of sexual abuse over their lifetime, and to quantify its true cost to individuals and to our society.

3. To develop and effect the delivery of a comprehensive therapeutic intervention and support programme that will enable victims to reach a nationally recognised and measurable standard for recovery.

Funding will be sought to cover the costs of this research. Please contact Graham Wilmer – info@ctruk.org.uk

Statement of purpose

Since the foundation of The Lantern Project in 2003, we have worked with hundreds of victims of sexual abuse, the majority of whom were abused during their childhood. The psychological and emotional damage caused by the abuse they suffered has effected them throughout their lives, but, until they made contact with us, they have had little if any help in dealing with the aftermath of the trauma forced upon them.

In recent months, much attention has been focused on the extent of child abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests in Eire, and more recently, in Germany and the Netherlands, investigations have begun into the extent of child abuse by Catholic priests within those countries.

Since June 1994, when paedophile priest Father Brendan Smith was sentenced to four years in prison for the abuse of children in Northern Ireland, there have been three major reports into the abuse of children at the hands of Ireland’s Catholic clergy:

• October 2005 the Ferns report detailed extensive child abuse and the cover-up of paedophile activity in the south-east of Ireland.
• November 2005 Judge Yvonne Murphy was appointed to head a commission of investigation into clerical child abuse in the Dublin diocese, which concluded today.
• May 2009 the Ryan report detailing abuse at orphanages and industrial schools run by Catholic religious orders across the state was published.

In this country, in 2000, the Catholic Church commissioned Lord Nolan to investigate child abuse by Catholic priests here, which resulted in various recommendations, subsequently adopted by the Church, the aim of which was, essentially, to stop future abuse taking place by improved safeguarding policies and procedures, but not to address and repair the damage of abuse already committed. The Anglican Church is also engaged in similar efforts to investigate abuse by Anglican priests.

What has not happened in this country, but which is much needed, is a wider inquiry into the extent of childhood sexual abuse in the country as a whole, not just within religious organisations, and the establishment of better support for victims to help them deal with the long-term impact and consequences of the abuse they suffered.

The purpose of this initiative is to persuade the british government to establish a commission to do just that. If you would like to take part in this initiative, either as a victim, or in any other capacity, please complete the declaration of interest and we will get back to you.

Contact us: info@ctruk.org.uk
Follow us: Twitter
For instant support and advise on the issues: www.lanternproject.org.uk

What we want to achieve

1. To provide a non judgmental forum through which victims of sexual abuse can submit testimony in person or by other means to enable their voices to be heard and the harm they suffered acknowledged and responded to.

2. To evaluate the damage caused to victims of sexual abuse over their lifetime, and to quantify its true cost to individuals and to our society.

3. To develop and effect the delivery of a comprehensive therapeutic intervention and support programme that will enable victims to reach a nationally recognised and measurable standard for recovery.

Contact us: info@ctruk.org.uk
Follow us: Twitter
For instant support and advise on the issues: www.lanternproject.org.uk