Recommendation 47: Catholic lead clergy for safeguarding
From The Roman Catholic Church Investigation Report, published 10 November 2020.
Recommendation
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious in England and 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 Wales.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry recommended that Catholic bishops and religious conferences nominate lead clergy for safeguarding. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in an account published in October 2022 summarising an April 2021 response from the Catholic Council for the Inquiry, reported that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales approved a role description in March 2021 and appointed Bishop Paul Mason for a term of three years (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It also recorded that the Conference of Religious approved a safeguarding role description and appointed Father David Smolira as its first lead (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). Both positions were described as working collaboratively to model a "One Church" strategy for safeguarding in England and Wales (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 19 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Catholic Bishops Conference has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 October 2026). This is separate from the response above.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (20 October 2022)
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 in March 2021. Bishop Paul Mason (the Bishop of the Forces) was appointed to this role at the Spring Plenary Assembly in April 2021 for a term of three years. The Conference of Religious have also approved the role description for the Lead Safeguarding Religious and have appointed Fr David Smolira SJ as the first lead. Both roles include working collaboratively to model a “One Church” strategy for safeguarding in the Catholic Church in England and Wales
From: Recommendations - Roman Catholic Church investigation report
Site note: These are the Inquiry's own words, from its recommendations page for the Roman Catholic Church investigation report, captured by the Internet Archive on 20 October 2022. They are the Inquiry's account of what the body told it, not the body's own words.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Finding