LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM)
The Pillar [Washington DC]
July 6, 2026
By Luke Coppen
‘Good practice is the exception when it comes to caring for survivors,’ the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency found.
The quality of engagement with abuse survivors varies significantly across the Catholic Church in England and Wales, a major new report said Monday.
A 116-page report by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency, issued July 6, concluded that a robust, survivor-centered approach to safeguarding was “exceptional rather than assured” among dioceses and religious life groups in England and Wales.
The report from the CSSA — which describes itself as an independent inspectorate — suggested that while initial complaints were generally handled well, dioceses and religious orders sometimes failed to sustain engagement with survivors, leaving them with a sense of abandonment.
The document also said that, despite considerable progress, the unified “One Church” approach to abuse advocated in the 2001 Nolan Report on safeguarding in the Church in England and Wales remained unrealized 25 years later.
“While national safeguarding standards set out expectations for safeguarding practice, there is currently no single nationally mandated safeguarding policy or comprehensive national policy framework in place across the Catholic Church in England and Wales,” the CSSA report noted.
The CSSA’s Survivor Panel, which gives a collective voice to abuse victims, said the new report “paints a picture of the Catholic Church in England and Wales lamentably failing to adequately care for people abused within it.”
“We see a postcode [zipcode] lottery, where the inspection has found good practice to be the exception when it comes to caring for survivors,” it commented.
“That is a stark message to absorb. The heartbreaking reality it points to is of a Church seemingly without the will, wisdom, or heart to care consistently for those it has harmed.”
“One of the realities Church leadership must confront is that people are still being harmed, and too often harmed again if they seek engagement with the Church.”
The new report, entitled “Survivors’ experience of the Catholic Church: A thematic review of safeguarding in England and Wales” and accompanied by a 25-page summary, drew on evidence from 12 dioceses, 32 religious life groups, and 39 written submissions from abuse survivors.
The report identified 12 areas where the Church in England and Wales can improve its engagement with abuse survivors, ranging from practicing “survivor-centered communication” to ensuring that victims have “a consistent, trusted point of contact” when they bring a complaint.
The report recommended that all dioceses and religious life groups form a plan to address the 12 areas for improvement.
The report also called on the Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding — an “independent national strategic safeguarding leadership body” for England and Wales formed in 2025 — to agree on actions to address the shortcomings it identified.
Church safeguarding leaders welcomed the document and promised to study it carefully.
In a joint statement July 6, Bishop Paul Mason, the English and Welsh bishops’ conference’s lead bishop for safeguarding, and Sr. Una Coogan, C.J., the lead religious for safeguarding for the Conference of Religious in England and Wales, said the report would help Church bodies enhance their engagement with abuse survivors.
“The newly formed Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding has a mandate to improve best practice and to embed a One Church approach across dioceses and religious life groups,” they said.
“In tandem with this, the Church’s safeguarding policies and guidance documents are currently under review and this report and its findings regarding survivor engagement will be taken into consideration during this process.”
They added: “Once again, we would like to make it clear that there is an open invitation from the bishops to meet with, and listen to, victims and survivors, so that we can learn from and be guided by their experiences.”
“We are committed to continual review and development to ensure our communities are places of safety and sanctuary for all.”
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The report comes just days after the Holy See announced the appointment of an apostolic vicar sede plena for the English Diocese of Northampton, with Westminster’s Archbishop Richard Moth taking temporary charge of the diocese after police confirmed that Bishop David Oakley faces two counts of rape of a female under the age of 16, following an investigation into historical allegations.
Oakley, who was appointed Bishop of Northampton in 2020, announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence for “personal reasons” in October last year, following his undisclosed arrest and release on bail in relation to the charges he now faces.
Archbishop Moth, the president of the English and Welsh bishops’ conference since April, and Archbishop Bernard Longley, the conference’s vice president, said June 25 that the news of the charges against Oakley was “deeply distressing for all, both within the Catholic community and beyond.”
“We are profoundly aware that the report of this allegation may reawaken painful memories for many people and again offer an unreserved apology to those who have been hurt by abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales,” they said.
“In this moment, we would like to provide pastoral reassurance on the commitment of the Church to safeguarding.”
“The Catholic Church in England and Wales maintains a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in the Church and in wider society, and we are cooperating fully with the statutory authorities.”
By Luke Coppen