Call to end bishops’ discretion in sex cases

CHILD protection campaigners have said they fear bishops will still retain too much discretion over the information they hold about child sex abuse despite promises of new legislation intended to make it easy for them to open their files.

One in Four says if it is left to a bishop to make a judgment call on whether information is relevant or not, details which could later prove of importance in safeguarding children may never be disclosed.

“We are questioning still the fact that each bishop will retain discretion as to whether to bring forward allegations or not. What happens in many dioceses is that a preliminary investigation takes place to see if an allegation has some credibility,” said the group’s director, Maeve Lewis.