The acting leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said failings in the area of child protection were “inexcusable” and appealed to abuse survivors to come forward. “If you don’t want to speak to PCI [Presbyterian Church in Ireland] then please get in touch with the police or Victim Support,” it said.
It follows the announcement last Wednesday by the church’s moderator (leader) Rev Dr Trevor Gribben that he is to resign at the end of this month over failings in the church’s child safeguarding practices.
In a statement read at all Presbyterian Sunday services today, the church’s acting clerk, Rev Dr David Allen, said: “We have betrayed the trust that people placed in us and I am deeply sorry for the hurt and grief that this has caused. On behalf of the church, I apologise unreservedly to everyone affected by this and to the wider church. We want to do everything we can to support victims and survivors of our failings. We are truly sorry.”
He was “inexpressibly grieved and ashamed by this” and said: “We will not sweep this under the carpet, we will open ourselves to external review and will co-operate fully.”
READ MORE
An external audit within the church was “already under way, designed by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, called Section 12. This audit will review our practices and processes, and will be submitted to the safeguarding board,” Rev Bruce said.
“We have been talking to statutory agencies and are continuing to do that, because we want to do things right and we want their help in that. Again, we are co-operating fully,” he said.
Rev Gribben took office as moderator last June and had been the church’s general secretary (or clerk) since 2014, before which he was deputy clerk from 2008.
A report by the church’s safeguarding team, published on Wednesday, identified a “number of situations between 2009 and 2021, with one as late as 2022, where we have failed to deliver an adequate safeguarding service”. The internal report was organised by the church last May following an intervention by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
It established failures by the church “to make referrals to statutory authorities when these were required” in abuse cases, as well as not responding “adequately to concerns expressed to us about individuals in congregations” with failure “to respond to people who, having suffered harm, have sought our help”.
The church had also “failed to keep proper and adequate records” and there were “situations where some offenders returning to worship in church, following referrals to us by statutory bodies, were inadequately monitored”.
On Friday it emerged that attempts in 2023 to alert church authorities to failings in its child safeguarding policies were ignored. Ian Elliott, who played a key role in reforming child-protection structures in the Catholic Church told The Irish Times that he had “previously offered advice to the [Presbyterian] Church, but this was refused”.
He said he was asked in 2023 to participate in an expert safeguarding panel for the Presbyterian Church. “I agreed and used that body as a way of voicing my concerns about what may be happening. Unfortunately, these questions were not answered and I resigned after a number of months,” he said.
It was also announced at Presbyterian Church services across Ireland on Sunday that former moderator Rev Dr Richard Murray will become moderator on December 1st. He had been moderator until June last when Rev Gribben was installed.
On December 1st Rev Murray is to announce that “a special meeting of the [Presbyterian] general assembly will take place next month,” Sunday’s statement said.
