More Than 50 Priests Defrocked in the UK Due to Sexual Abuse

Russ Jones | Christian Press | Updated: Jul 24, 2014

More Than 50 Priests Defrocked in the UK Due to Sexual Abuse

The National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) has released a study that examines sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. The report concludes that 52 priests have been defrocked in England and Wales since 2001 on allegations of sexual abuse.

According to Christian Today 598 allegations of abuse were reported between 2003 and 212. 465 of those were allegations of sexual abuse.

"The media did the Church a service by casting light on this abuse, and now that the spotlight is on other intuitions, that doesn't mean the Church is going to turn a blind eye," said Adrian Child, director of the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS).

While the findings of the report are important, Anne Lawrence, former chairwoman of Minister and Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors told the Huffington Post UK that the figures for the number of allegations received represents only the "tip of the iceberg.”

Officials with NCSC claim it will take “about a generation” to regain the trust of the faithful and efforts should now focus on sexual abuse survivors.

“Work in progress this year is a renewed look at how we may work with victims and survivors including a pilot project in the Diocese of Hallam which may set out a national direction for us,” Danny Sullivan, chair of NCSC wrote in the report.

Publication Date: July 24, 2014.

More Than 50 Priests Defrocked in the UK Due to Sexual Abuse