Catholic Church told how to improve child protection measures

Every Catholic parish should have a child protection
representative, and each diocese and religious order should have a
child protection co-ordinator, a major new report has
recommended.

The first report of Lord Nolan’s independent review into
child protection in the Catholic Church made 50 recommendations
including establishing a single national database of information on
all candidates applying for ordination.

Nolan was asked last summer by the Archbishop of Westminster
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor to chair the review following
the rising number of child sexual abuse cases being reported
against the church.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “We are committed to
ensuring that the Catholic Church becomes the safest of places for
children, and I am sure that this first report, and the ongoing
work of the review, will help us to achieve this.”

A final report by the review is expected this summer.

Review on child protection in the Catholic Church in England and
Wales from www.nolanreview.org.uk