The Church of England yesterday confirmed the broad principles for a protocol for the systematic review of past child protection cases, as announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year.
Each diocesan bishop is to initiate a review of clergy and other files, including priests who have retired to their diocese, diocesan lay employees and Readers (as such files are held at a diocesan level, not centrally). An Independent Reviewer will be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any 'causes for concern' exist.
Each diocesan bishop is also to write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops' chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns expressed that they can recall from their time in the diocese, which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now.
Such concerns will be listed alongside any issues raised by the diocesan file search. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or members of congregations will be included in the list. If any urgent issues arise these will be dealt with immediately by referring to the relevant statutory authorities.
