Video: Britain braces itself for Pope Benedict

Tomorrow, Pope Benedict XVI land in Edinburgh for the start of a four-day official state visit to the United Kingdom, amid a storm of protests by secularists and disillusioned Catholics alike.

The state visit – the first ever by a Catholic Pope, though John Paul II had paid Britain a pastoral visit in 1982 – will include a reception by Queen Elizabeth II at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, a visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, and a visit to the grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.

It will culminate on Sunday in the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in West Midlands.

However, security will be stepped up in view of protests, to be held in London today and tomorrow, by secularists who oppose the perceived Vatican interference in British politics; by support groups for thousands of victims of clerical abuse, and also by Catholic splinter groups which oppose the general direction of Benedict’s papacy.

Watch the press conference by UK Catholic Church sexual abuse victims yesterday (courtesy ITV News)

Newspaper surveys recently revealed that some 77% of the country disapproves of the estimated GBP£20 million in public expenditure on the visit. 

Margaret Kennedy/Anne Lawrence

Co-founders, Minster and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors (MACSAS)

MACSAS is a support group for women and men from Christian backgrounds who have been sexually abused by ministers or clergy, as children or as adults.

Asked by MaltaToday to quantify how many cases of clerical abuse from Catholic priests had been reported in the UK, Margaret and Anne explained how there had been “thousands probably”.

However, “there has been no inquiry so no one knows how many cases have been reported,” they insisted.

“The church did a review of all files but did not make its findings public,” Margaret and Anne lamented.

“The Archdiocese of Birmingham was one of the worst in the country under the reign of Archbishop Coeure d'Mueville who died in the early 2000s,” they added.

Asked how many Catholic priests were involved in these cases in the UK, Margaret and Anne told MaltaToday that “many children in England were abused by religious brothers.

These included “Benedictines – all residential schools; Jesuits; DeLaSalle Brothers – children’s homes; Franciscans, many in schools for the disabled, including Tingwell Hall and St Joseph’s School for the Deaf under Fr Gallanghar”

Margaret and Anne could not identify how many of these cases were still being investigated at local Bishop level and how many of these cases had been referred to the Vatican.

“We don't know because there has been no inquiry and no release of the findings of the review carried out by the Catholic Church in the early to mid 2000s,” they insisted.

When asked how many of these cases had been referred to the police rather than the Catholic Church, Margaret and Anne told Malta Today that it was only in 2003 that the Catholic Church started referring cases of paedophile priests to the police.

“In recent years we have been told all cases have been referred where the Priest is still alive and well and still within the jurisdiction of England and Wales,” the MACSAS co-founders told MaltaToday.

“We cannot confirm whether this is actually true unless the church is compelled to disclose its files,” they added.

“All other cases and records remain buried in church archives despite the victims still suffering,’ Margaret and Anne lamented.

Asked by MaltaToday whether they deemed the Catholic Church's response to these cases as satisfactory or not, Margaret and Anne did not mince their words.

“Until their files have been released for independent scrutiny and the findings made public we cannot be satisfied that all is well,” they insisted.

“Many victims and their families feel profoundly betrayed by the church as it became clear that often the church authorities knew about the dangers posed by priests and religious and allowed them to continue to abuse for decades,” they told MaltaToday.

Margaret and Anne confirmed that there were pressures in the UK for a meeting with the victims of religious’ sexual abuse.

“MACSAS and NAPAC are calling for meetings with victims,” they told MaltaToday.

“MACSAS wants to give the Pope a book for survivors’ testimonies but we have been refused a meeting,” the MACSAS co-founders told MaltaToday.

“There are ten survivors who will meet the Pope but that is shrouded in secrecy and none of the survivor organisation have any idea of who these survivors are, possibly those the Church has settled cases with and given compensation,” they revealed. “Some of the very few in fact!,” Margaret and Anne concluded.

Peter Saunders

Chief Executive, National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)

Peter, one of most vociferous victims of child abuse in the UK, set up NAPAC as there was a lack of an integrated national body providing help and support to adults who have experienced childhood abuse.

In early January 1997 a group of approximately 100 people led by Peter met in London to discuss the idea of a new national organisation for people abused in childhood.

Peter is still deeply hurt with his sexual abuse experience, as it transpires from his answers to MaltaToday’s questions.

Asked by MaltaToday to state how many cases of clerical abuse from Catholic priests had been reported in the UK, Peter did not mince his words.

“Only a tiny fraction of what we suspect to be a real figure,” he insisted.

Asked to quantify how many Catholic priests were involved in these cases, Peter could not give an exact figure.

“Too many priests involved but no one knows how many cases are on-going as the Church is good at silencing people,” he told MaltaToday.

Peter said he had “no idea” how many of these cases were still being investigated at local Bishop level and how many of these cases had been referred to the Vatican.

Asked by MaltaToday to state how many of these cases had been referred to the police rather than the Catholic Church, Peter could not give a specific figure.

“Not enough,” he told MaltaToday.

Peter did not mince his words when asked how the Catholic Church in the UK usually dealt with these cases.

“Same as everywhere else,” he told MaltaToday. “The Church and offending priests are placed ahead of the victims,” Peter insisted.

He gave a one-word answer when asked by MaltaToday whether the Catholic Church’s response to these cases in the UK was satisfactory or not: “Not”

Peter confirmed that a meeting with some victims of religious sexual abuse had been arranged, but he has been left out of it.

“I said I was willing to meet the Pope – as NAPAC and as a survivor of Jesuit sexual abuse – but I haven’t been asked!