UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times
By Tabatha Kinder
July 24, 2014
More than 50 Catholic priests in England and Wales have been “defrocked” since 2001 to protect children and vulnerable adults from clerical sex abuse, it has been revealed.
The National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) said 52 priests had their ordained powers revoked by the church following the implementation of new rules to combat the well-publicised litany of abuses.
The statistics are revealed as the commission said there were 81 child abuse allegations made last year alone in England and Wales – a leap from 59 in 2012.
The NCSC attribute the rise in allegations last year to the Jimmy Saville scandal that resulted in a surge in calls to child abuse survivor support groups.
New procedures to tackle prolific sex abuse scandals of paedophile priests in the Catholic Church were implemented after late Lord Nolan made 83 recommendations to improve child protection in 2001.
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