Dear Baroness Hollins,
I am writing to you after hearing that you have been appointed to the vatican’s commission to look into the clergy child abuse crimes.
I am the Co-founder of Survivors Voice Europe, based in England, and together with my colleague Ton Leerschool from Holland, we represent many hundreds of clergy abuse survivors from all over the World.
We gave evidence to the UN committee for the rights of the Child in Geneva against the Holy See, which resulted in the directive to the vatican to make very specific changes.
I am also part of the “Stop Church Child Abuse” coalition in Britain calling for a public independent enquiry into the church child abuse scandal, and the churches mis-handling of it.
I have no doubt you will have a specific remit within this commission, and you will also no doubt be inundated with opinions from a variety of directions.
I would not attempt to offer any advice to you. Largely because our interest is not in any form of healing for the church, but is focused totally on the connection with, and the empowerment of the many thousands of disaffected people who are the victims of priests.
We do not believe the solutions can come from within a church which has been the cause of the problems.
What I do want you to be made aware of is that the vast majority of victims of pedophile priests are no longer part of that church, nor have any desire to be, so any representation of victim groups which come from within the church, do NOT represent the majority of us, and have only a limited understanding of the sheer scale of the abuses worldwide.You will hear plenty of sanitised stories.
You should know that the majority of survivors groups have no faith in the hierarchy of the church, or it’s apparent recent interest in this cause, after resisting and denying it’s responsibilities for centuries. We have had many dealings with them over the years and have now chosen not to continue with meaningless dialogue.
Of course we are also aware that this commission has not been set up for the benefit of survivors, we are seen at best as collateral damage.
Fortunately we have found a far more powerful way of recovering from our traumas by trusting in each other and turning our backs on the organisation which has continued to abuse us.
But for the sake of future abuse victims, and there will no doubt be many more, I think it important that you hear that there can be no meaningful future safeguarding without first addressing the past injustices.
Even if the vatican does as it has been requested, throws out it’s pedophile priests, opens up it’s files, ceases to cover up their crimes both historic and current, makes them adhere to the laws of the countries where the crimes have been committed, even if all of the bishops are defrocked for their part in it, and even if there are many more “investigative” commissions – we will still be left with hundreds of thousands of dis-enfranchised survivors who have been dismissed, denied, trivialised, and have never received any kind of acknowledgement or justice.
That is not the way to build any kind of future which can regain or earn any kind of respect from the rest of the world.
I would like to draw to your attention also to the need to introduce some kind of understanding of the severity of the damage caused by these crimes against children.
You will be aware, from your professional background of some of the dreadful psychological damage, and presumably are also aware that this damage has a physical route in brain changes that are permanent.
Current neuroscience research shows permanent damage to the brains of people abused in this way in childhood, and epigenetic research shows damage to the immune and metabolic systems of those victims,the further implication being a shortened life span. (I myself have nine life threatening or life limiting conditions! and I am far from unique ) This damage further affects the next generation and the next… and yet this is a crime , with the destruction of the lives of so many which the church still sees fit to trivialise.
I have to say, we as a group of very strong survivors do not hold out any hope for this commission,coming as it does only because of persistent external pressure to be open to scrutiny. The current pope’s defensive stance against the UN has only confirmed our opinions.
The church does not need yet another investigative “commission” to learn to do the right thing. These delaying tactics are some of the most reprehensible, and often used to detract from the real issues.
We see this commission at best a paper PR exercise, with no real change.
And I personally have very grave mis-givings about a peer of our realm being involved with the vatican’s latest PR stunt.
But if you really do have justice in your heart,and are not simply intent on mending your broken church, then I would urge you to use any influence you may have to encourage the vatican to do as the UN have requested and open up to public independant secular scrutiny their past behaviour before they can ever consider drawing a line under it and safeguard future children.
I would also urge you to support the call for a public enquiry in this country as we have campaigned for.
We will be watching the commission with interest, while dealing with the far more important task of supporting those who’s lives can never be the same again.
Yours Faithfully
Sue Cox
