SCOTLAND
Belfast Telegraph
Catholic Church in Scotland must support and apologise to abuse survivors, says review that followed Cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal
By Claire Cromie and Catriona Wenster
PUBLISHED
18/08/2015
An independent review ordered in the wake of the cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal has told the Catholic Church in Scotland it must make an “unmistakeable and unequivocal” apology to survivors of abuse.
A commission led by the Very Rev Andrew McLellan has made eight recommendations, including calling for support for survivors of abuse to be an “absolute priority”.
It also says justice must be done for those who have been abused.
The commission was set up in November 2013 by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland in response to a series of scandals, including the resignation of disgraced cardinal Keith O’Brien, from Northern Ireland.
He stepped down from the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February 2013 after three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him.
Mr McLellan, a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and one-time chief inspector of prisons, was tasked with evaluating the procedures in place to protect vulnerable children and adults and ensure that the church is ”a safe place for all”.
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