Pope intervenes in the scandal at Ealing Abbey
October 26, 2011
Posted by:Jonathan Wheeler
Allegations of sexual abuse by pupils at St Benedict's independent school, linked to Ealing Abbey, date as far back as the 1960's and go right up to 2009. The allegations are levelled against monks, priests and lay teachers and it appears to me that a paedophile ring may have been operating there for decades. Father David Pearce, a former headmaster at St Benedicts, and John Maestri, a lay teacher, have already been convicted of crimes against children. Father Laurence Soper, the former Abbot of Ealing Abbey, recently refused to answer bail to be questioned about his own role, and was last known to be working at the headquarters of the Benedictine order in Rome although he now appears to be on the run from the police. An international warrant is now out for his arrest and if he is caught he too is likely to be charged with sexual offences against children. Further allegations against others are still being investigated. The Abbey commissioned Lord Carlile of Berriew QC to conduct its own enquiry in an effort to give some closure to the issue, which has yet to be published. But now the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome is to conduct an historic apostolic visitation, in a move similar to that seen in the Republic of Ireland in March this year after the scandal of child abuse there at the hands of Catholic priests unfurled. Commentators see the Pope's actions as a rebuke to the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols and the highest ranking Catholic priest in England, who has insisted that church child protection policies in Britain meant that scandals like this would not occur on his doorstep. Victims of the abuse hope that the enquiry will support their belief that there has been a cover up by high ranking priests who turned a blind eye to complaints, failed to involve the police to investigate allegations, and allowed those accused to move on to other schools without warning their future employers so that they went on to abuse more children.
As more allegations surface, the Vatican not only has to be seen to be doing the right thing, but actually do it. It is unfortunate in the extreme that the results of the papal investigation will not automatically be made public. The Catholic Church must face up to these problems in its very midst, it must be open, it must be less defensive, and must be prepared for radical change of its child protection procedures.
The child abuse team at Bolt Burdon Kemp have been contacted by former pupils of St Benedict's and we are currently pursuing a compensation claim against the Abbey for abuse by David Pearce.