A collection of text, messages and resources for marking Safeguarding Sunday 2024
*The Day of Prayer is always marked on the Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter in England and Wales.
The video below will be made public at 10AM on Saturday 4th May 2024. Click here to access the text.
Note to viewers: With apologies that the sound quality in this video is below our usual standard due to complications out of our control.
The parish of St Anne’s Buxton recently held a day of prayer for survivors and victims of abuse.
Child sexual abuse not only grievously harms victims of it, but it all too often wounds communities where it happened. There can be deep feelings of betrayal, shame, hurt and mistrust for communities as well as, and more importantly, the victims. On 23rd April, a day of healing and reconciliation was held in the parish of St Anne’s, Buxton to recognise and address the individual and collective harm caused by the crimes of their former parish priest.
Fr Paul Cullen, parish priest at St Anne’s Buxton between 1978 and 1987, had been on the run for 22 years since he skipped bail in 1991 for numerous child sex abuse charges. Following close cooperation between the Diocese of Nottingham and Police he was eventually identified, extradited from Spain and prosecuted for his crimes in 2014. Fr Cullen pleaded guilty to 21 charges of sexual abuse involving five boys and two girls in Mackworth, Buxton and Nottingham and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, where he died in 2018.
To help with the healing of the wounds caused by this abuse, parishioners at St Anne’s organised a Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Abuse on Tuesday 23rd April. The day began at 12noon with an introduction from Fr Gerry Murphy, parish priest, and Fr Dominic Allain, the Pastoral Director of ‘Grief to Grace’ healing ministry. Both priests were present and available throughout the day for those who wished to speak with someone. At 3pm there was a moving Way of the Cross, which incorporated the voices of victims and then a moment of prayer and testimony at 5pm. Throughout the day there were prayer stations in the Church, there were also opportunities to light a candle, sit quietly, talk with someone or to tie a ribbon on the LOUDfence as a visible act of solidarity with victims and survivors of abuse.
The day culminated with an evening service of reparation and reconciliation led by Bishop Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham. Fr Dominic Allain preached on being made in the image and likeness of God. The wounds of abuse, he said, are soul wounds and touch the very essence of who we are as people made in the image of God, people made to give and receive love. He spoke of how these wounds of abuse have profound spiritual implications when it is a priest who has caused them. Bishop Patrick then offered a profound apology on behalf of the Diocese to the people of the parish of St Anne’s. He said,
‘This evening my prayers and thoughts are with all the all the victims of the horrific crimes of Fr. Paul Cullen, but particularly the survivors of this parish of Saint Anne’s, here in Buxton. As the current Bishop of this Diocese of Nottingham, within which Fr. Cullen ministered, I wish to try and apologise to you for his actions, for the way the diocese responded to them and, most importantly, for the abuse and hurt each of his victims and their families have continued to experience…
I also want to apologise, as Bishop of Nottingham, and on behalf of the Diocese, for the hurt Fr. Cullen has caused each of you, the people of this parish. I can well understand your very real feeling, as his parishioners, of having been betrayed by him as your parish priest. I can also understand your righteous anger and your sorrow at the way he despicably abused and damaged the young lives of some parishioners here… I am sensitive to the reality that this sense of violation, woundedness and shame is still very alive here in this parish community…
My desire is to learn from the past and actively to do all I can as Bishop to ensure that everyone in our diocese is safe, and that we all work together in our parishes and chaplaincies to ensure that everyone is safe, especially the most vulnerable. My door and the door of our Diocesan Safeguarding Team is always open to anyone affected by abuse. I thank you all for inviting me tonight; this is a most important initiative and I hope it helps to bring some healing to you all.”
The bishop’s full remarks and apology can be read on this same webpage. Following this, Bishop Patrick along with the priests present at the liturgy, prostrated themselves before the altar in an act of repentance. Explaining the meaning of this gesture, the Bishop said he wanted to ‘try to express to you [the parish of St Anne’s] and before God the deep sense of shame I feel for what some of my clerical brothers have done and for the lack, at times, of an appropriate response on the part of Catholic leadership. The act of prostration represents also my own prayer for the healing of everyone abused and affected by sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. It expresses also my desire to learn from the past and proactively to do all that I can as bishop to try and ensure that everyone feels safe and that we all work together to ensure that everyone is safe in the churches and chaplaincies of our diocese.’ The full service can be watched back here.
It is hoped this important initiative will be a significant step towards the greater healing of the community of St Anne’s in Buxton and bring consolation to the individual victims of Fr Paul Cullen.
Bishop Patrick’s door and that of the diocesan safeguarding team is always open to anyone affected by abuse. If you have been affected by reading this news item or have been affected by sexual abuse in the Diocese of Nottingham, please feel free to make contact with: Office of the Bishop, Safeguarding Office, or Safe Spaces
This evening my prayers and thoughts are with all the victims of the horrific crimes of Fr Paul Cullen, but particularly those victims and survivors from this parish of St Anne’s here in Buxton. As the current Bishop of this Diocese of Nottingham, within which Fr Cullen ministered, I wish to try and apologise to you for his actions, for the way in which his actions were responded to within the diocese, and most importantly for the abuse and hurt each of his victims and their families continue to experience. From meeting with and listening to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, I have come to understand ever more deeply that child sexual abuse not only heinously violates a child at the time of their abuse, but it all too often cruelly robs a child of their future. The victims and survivors of the abuse perpetrated by Fr Cullen have carried, and continue to carry throughout their lives, the painful and debilitating consequences of his grave crimes of sexual abuse. I want to say very clearly, as part of the apology I offer this evening on behalf of the diocese, that I do not underestimate the traumatic and life-long consequences of his violation of those young people that he abused, and the effect also upon their families and parish communities. The ripple effects of sexual abuse reach out to and affect many others.
This is why I also want to apologise, as Bishop and on behalf of the diocese, for the hurt Fr Cullen has caused each of you, the people of this parish. I can well understand your very real feeling, as his parishioners, of having been betrayed by him as your parish priest. I can also understand your righteous anger and your sorrow at the way he despicably abused and damaged the young lives of some parishioners here. Although what Fr Cullen did to his young victims is now some 40 years ago, I am very aware that the widespread realisation of just what he did here in the parish came out publicly only 10 years ago when he was convicted, and then again just a few years ago when he died in prison. So I am sensitive to the fact that the reality of violation, woundedness and shame is still very fresh here in the parish.
Like you, I continue to love Christ’s Church. But I humbly acknowledge that sexual abuse has stained the face of the Church and it has undermined her mission. I have felt for many years a deep sense of shame as a Catholic because of this stain, and even more so as a priest and now as a Bishop. Ever since I met with a small group of victims and survivors of sexual abuse, I have tried to make a small weekly act of reparation and repentance for this stain on the face of the Church. Each year, during the national Catholic Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Sexual Abuse, as part of the service at the Cathedral, I take the opportunity to prostrate myself on the ground before the altar. This act of prostration is, for me, a small gesture of sorrow and repentance before God for the lasting damage that sexual abuse by clergy within the church has caused their victims, and their families and wider parish communities. So I will readily and wholeheartedly prostrate myself again this evening to express to you also the deep sense of shame I feel as a priest and bishop for what some of my clerical brothers have done and for the lack, at times, of an appropriate response on the part of Catholic leadership. The act of prostration represents also my own prayer for the healing of everyone abused and affected by sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and also my desire to learn from the past, and to pro-actively do all that I can as Bishop to try and ensure that everyone feels safe, and that we all work together to ensure that everyone is safe, in the churches and chaplaincies of our diocese. We can’t just leave it to our parish Safeguarding representatives. As Pope Francis has said, “the most effective resolution that we can offer to the survivors and victims, to the people of Holy Mother Church, and to the entire world, is the commitment to personal and collective conversion to the humility of learning from, listening to, and assisting and protecting the most vulnerable.” I’m very grateful that I will be joined in this act of prostration this evening by Fr Gerry and Fr Dominic.
I do want to assure you that the Diocese of Nottingham is very much committed to embedding robust safeguarding practices across all of our parishes, chaplaincies and any organisations operating within the diocese. The professional support of our Safeguarding department now enables the safer recruitment and training of all clergy, employees and volunteers. It also ensures that we are always transparent and accountable in the way that all allegations and concerns are managed. We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities, but I readily acknowledge that there is still always much for us all to learn and improve on. Finally, let me make clear that my door, and that of our diocesan Safeguarding Team, is always open to anyone affected by abuse. I will be available after this Service if anyone would like to speak with me.
This is a most important initiative that has been taking here today. Thank you for inviting me to join you for this evening Prayer Service. I thank very much those who have organised this Day of Prayer, and I pray that it brings some healing to you, as a parish community and as individuals.
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