FROM BRITAIN AND IRELAND NEWS School abuse revelations shock parents Christopher Lamb


PARENTS OFpupils at a Benedictine school in west London have expressed anger at the failure to deal with the sexual abuse perpetrated by monks and teachers that is detailed in an independent report. The findings of an inquiry into St Benedict’s School, Ealing, by Lord Carlile QC, published on Wednesday, said there had been a “lengthy and culpable failure” by the monastic com- munity to deal with “evident behaviour placing children at risk”. His report calls for a new governing structure removing the school from the control of the monastery. The evening before the report’s publication, parents met the headmaster of St Benedict’s, Christopher Cleugh, and the Abbot of Ealing, Martin Shipperlee, to discuss concerns. After the meeting Philip Catterall, a parent of a child who has just started at the school and chairman of governors at St Joseph’s Primary School, Maida Vale, north west London, said parents had asked “tough questions” of the school’s leadership. “The abuse was horrific so I am just at this moment absorbing the shock,” he said. “There was anger at the meeting. There were some raised voices and some very direct, angry questions,” adding that there was still “uncer- tainty” among parents about what other abuse allegations might emerge. Mr Catterall stressed, however, that he had “total confi- dence” that the school would fix the problem. Another parent, Manoj Prakash, said:


“Parents want to know more about what is going to be put in place to protect the children. All the parents are very concerned over whether the new policies in place are being


practised and whether they are enough to protect children.” Parents appeared supportive of the plan


for a new governance structure at the school, which would mean the creation of a charitable trust to run the school. The trust will be run by a board of governors which may include monks but will always have a lay chairman and a lay majority.


Responding to the report, Abbot Martin said that work was already under way to implement the changes of governance at the school “in full” and these should be in place by September next year.


Speaking at a press conference to launch the report, Lord Carlile said that the charitable trust governing Ealing Abbey and the school, controlled solely by the monastic community, had failed. “This school may find it much easier in the future to have a more transparent, more effective, more accountable and accept- able form of governance,” he said. He added that this would “remove all power over the school from the abbey while retaining the Benedictine ethos”. Mr Cleugh, also present at the press con- ference, apologised for “the trauma and the suffering that so many people have suffered for so long a time at St Benedict’s School.” Abbot Martin said the abbey “absolutely and unconditionally apologises for the hurt and harm caused by members of the monastic community”. Lord Carlile’s report lists abuse allegations against eight individuals – five monks and three lay teachers. One of these, Fr Laurence Soper, the com-


munity’s former abbot, has skipped bail conditions and his whereabouts are unknown. Lord Carlile said he believed that the police


had issued a European arrest warrant or were on the verge of doing so. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police would not confirm whether a warrant had been issued but said they were searching for Fr Soper. Lord Carlile said: “I would encourage Laurence Soper to surrender himself to the police to whom he promised to surrender himself in London.” He went on: “What I hope is that everybody who knows and has had contact with Laurence Soper will inveigh upon him very strongly to surrender himself to the British authorities.” This week, police also confirmed that they were investigating other allegations of abuse at St Benedict’s and that a former lay teacher was due to stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court on 5 December on two counts of abuse. When asked if St Benedict’s should be closed, Lord Carlile said there was still “high demand” for the school. ■A diocese has lost the first stage of its legal battle to avoid liability for damages in cases of clerical sex abuse. In a landmark judgment on Tuesday, the High Court ruled that the Bishop of Portsmouth, Crispian Hollis, bears legal responsibility for the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl by a priest. The claimant, a 47-year-old mother of three identified as JGE, claims she suffered repeated sex attacks by the late Fr Wilfred Baldwin in a Hampshire care home as a child. The decision could open the door for other alleged victims to bring claims against the Church for abuse by priests. Lawyers for Bishop Hollis had argued that priests are self-employed so the Church cannot be held responsible for what they do. (See Christopher Lamb and


Catherine Pepinster, page 6. For the full text of the report, visit www.thetablet.co.uk)


Apostolic visitors want to hear from Ealing parishioners


PARISHIONERS AT Ealing Abbey are to be consulted about how confidence can be rebuilt in their church following the disclosures that pupils at the abbey’s school were abused by monks and lay teachers, writes Elena Curti. The next phase of the apostolic visitation ordered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) will invite all those con- nected with the abbey and St Benedict’s School to give their comments. The initiative was announced on


Wednesday by Bishop John Arnold, an aux- iliary in Westminster, who is conducting the visitation alongside Abbot Richard Yeo, abbot president of the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC). “What we are looking for is to see if there is some way in which the monastery can be


responding better to the pain and the difficulty that has been felt by many people associated with the monastery, the parish and the school,” he said. The CDF ordered the visitation in the sum- mer and the visitors then spent three days living at the monastery. Bishop Arnold said he and Abbot Richard had been waiting for the publication of the Carlile report and planned to study it before resuming their work. Bishop Arnold said that if he received any


allegations of abuse, he would pass them to the statutory authorities. He stressed that the remit of the visitation is to ensure that nationally agreed safeguarding procedures are in place at the monastery taking into account the fact that the abbey is closely aligned with the school and the parish.


This week, Lord Carlile said that Abbot Richard should not have conducted the apos- tolic visitation because of an apparent conflict of interest – although he stressed that the abbot is “capable of exercising his independent judgement”. Bishop Arnold rejected Lord Carlile’s claim in the light of Abbot Richard’s role at the EBC and the fact that he was a member of the Cumberlege Commission that revised the Church’s child-protection guidelines. Anyone wishing to send their comments to Bishop Arnold should email him at: Ealingabbeycomments@rcdow.org.uk or write to: Ealing Abbey Comments, c/o Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QJ. The deadline for comments is 10 December.


12 November 2011 | THE TABLET | 35


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