47
Response
Accepted
Self-assessed
Catholic lead clergy for safeguarding
Recommendation
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious in England and in Wales should each nominate a lead member of the clergy for safeguarding to provide leadership and oversight on safeguarding matters to their respective Conferences and the wider Roman Catholic Church in England and in Wales.
Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Catholic Council for the Inquiry in April 2021, Bishop Paul Mason was appointed as the Lead Bishop for Safeguarding for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, following approval of the role description. According to the Inquiry, Fr David Smolira SJ was appointed as the Lead Safeguarding Religious, with his role description also approved.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
E
Response
Accepted
Response
Accepted
Accepted
UK Government
22 May 2023
On 30 April 2021, the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated that the role description for the Lead Bishop for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales was approved and Bishop Paul Mason was appointed to the role. The role description of Lead Safeguarding Religious was approved and Fr David Smolira SJ was appointed.
Responsible Bodies
Catholic Bishops Conference
Primary
Recommendation age
5.4 yrs
Last formal update
1037 days ago