London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Country’s top Catholic cardinal ‘prioritised church over sexually abused kids'

Country’s top Catholic cardinal ‘prioritised church over sexually abused kids'

England and Wales’ most senior Catholic leader prioritised the reputation of the church over the welfare of child sex abuse victims, according to a damning inquiry.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster Diocese, is refusing to resign despite the findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

It said the Church had shown a ‘grudging and unsympathetic attitude to victims’ – with the mother of one alleged victim told to ‘go away and pray’ for the abuser and ‘not bring any scandal on the church’.

The inquiry concluded that Cardinal Nichols ‘demonstrated a lack of understanding’ of the impact of abuse for some victims who had been assaulted by priests, and ‘seemingly put the reputation of the church’ above them.

The 162-page report into allegations involving the Roman Catholic Church found evidence of ‘repeated failures’, including a lack of adequate safeguarding and missed opportunities to stop abusers.

Between 1970 and 2015, more than 3,000 complaints of child sex abuse against more than 900 people connected to the Church were raised, said the report.

The Vatican’s failure to cooperate with the investigation ‘passes understanding’, said the report, despite abuse within the Church being ‘far from a solely historical issue’.

Since 2016, more than 100 allegations of abuse have been reported each year, it found.

Cardinal Nichols is now facing calls to resign immediately. He said he recently offered his resignation to the Pope due to his age but was told to stay in his post.


A woman prays at the closed doors of Westminster Cathedral – the mother church for Roman Catholics in England and Wales


In a statement, Cardinal Nichols and the archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, said: ‘We apologise to all victims and survivors who have not been properly listened to, or properly supported by us.’

The Cardinal asked for forgiveness and said the Church’s failure to deal with abuse had brought him personal shame.

But the report found he demonstrated ‘no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change’, and that progress following reviews into the Church’s handling of allegations in 2001 and 2007 had been ‘slow’.

The report highlighted the case of Father James Robinson, a serial paedophile, who was moved to another parish within the Archdiocese of Birmingham after complaints were first made in the 1980s.

He later fled to the US but was extradited back to the UK where he was convicted in 2010 of 21 sexual offences against four boys and jailed for 21 years.

This strand of the inquiry was held over two weeks in October and November 2019, during which evidence was heard of vulnerable women being ordered to strip naked by priests offering ‘counselling’ sessions, who would then sexually assault them.

Time and again, the inquiry was told that attempts to complain were dismissed by senior Catholic priests.


Cardinal Nichols said he offered his resignation due to his age but was told to remain in his post


Another woman described being ‘groomed’ by her priest from the age of 15, who sexually abused her on church grounds including in front of colleagues, who turned a blind eye.

The woman was later raped by the priest, the inquiry heard, but that her complaints to Cardinal Nichols were effectively dismissed.

She later discovered she was being described by the church behind the scenes as ‘deeply manipulative’ and ‘a needy victim’.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including mandatory safeguarding training for all staff and volunteers, and for the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service to be externally audited.

It said the subject of mandatory reporting – the legal duty to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the appropriate authorities, something Catholic Church leaders have opposed due to the ‘sacred nature’ of disclosure made during confession – will form part of the inquiry’s final, overarching report into abuse allegations across society.

In his evidence to the inquiry, Cardinal Nichols said: ‘I repeat, as I did last time, my sorrow and dismay and apology, unreserved apology, to those who have suffered the horror of child abuse within the context of the Catholic Church and those who have subsequently been treated badly by us.’

Cardinal Nichols said he would defend the seal of confession ‘absolutely’ when asked about the mandatory reporting duty.

He told the inquiry: ‘The history of the Catholic Church has a number of people who have been put to death in defence of the seal of the confession. It might come to that.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
×