Dear friends, we received life before we ever desired it. As Pope Francis said: that' all of us are sons and daughters, but none of us chose to be born ' (Angelus, 1 January 2025). Not only that. As soon as we were born, we needed others in order to live; left to ourselves, we would not have survived. Someone else saved us by caring for us in body and spirit. All of us are alive today thanks to a relationship, a free and freeing relationship of human kindness and mutual care.
That human kindness is sometimes betrayed. As for example, whenever freedom is invoked not to give life, but to take it away, not to help, but to hurt. Yet even in the face of the evil that opposes and takes life, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us. His prayer acts as a balm for our wounds; it speaks to us of forgiveness and reconciliation. That prayer makes fully meaningful our experience of love for one another as parents, grandparents, sons and daughters. That is what we want to proclaim to the world: we are here in order to be ONE as the Lord wants us to be one, in our families and in those places where we live, work and study. Different, yet one; many, yet one; always, in every situation and at every stage of life.
Dear friends, if we love one another in this way, grounded in Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (cf. Rev 22:13), we will be a sign of peace for everyone, in society and the world. Let us not forget: families are the cradle of the future of humanity.
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV - JUBILEE OF FAMILIES, CHILDREN, GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY -01/06/2025
Safeguarding Policy of The Association of Catholic Nurses is guided by the 8 Safeguarding standards of the Catholic Church in
England and Wales . Standard 1: Embed Safeguarding in Leadership, Governance, Ministry, and Culture. Leadership must champion a zero-
tolerance approach to abuse and integrate safety into the core mission of the Church body.
Standard 2: Communicate the Church Safeguarding Message. Clearly publicize safeguarding commitments, policies, and
contact information across all physical and online environments. Standard 3: Engage with and Care for Those Who Report Being Harmed. Listen, respond respectfully, and offer compassionate,
specialized support to survivors and victims of abuse regardless of when it occurred.
Standard 4: Effectively Manage Allegations and Concerns. Respond promptly and fairly to all concerns or allegations in strict
alignment with statutory and national procedures. Standard 5: Manage and Support Subjects of Concerns and Allegations. Provide proper oversight and support for respondents
while ensuring safety and risk reduction remain the top priority.
Standard 6: Implement Robust Human Resource Management .Apply safe recruitment, vetting, and employment practices
(including DBS checks) for all staff members and volunteers. Standard 7: Provide and Access Safeguarding Training and Support .Ensure all clergy, religious personnel, employees, and
volunteers undergo mandatory, ongoing safeguarding training suited to their roles.
Standard 8: Seek to Continuously Improve Practice. Routinely quality-assure, audit, and evaluate local and national procedures
to adapt and improve safeguarding standards
GUIDELINES FOR HANDLING A DISCLOSURE IN CATHOLIC CHURCH SETTINGS OF ABUSE OF A CHILD OR A VULNERABLE ADULT ( INCLUDING INSTITUTIONAL , ORGANIZATIONAL OR DOMESTIC ABUSE )
DO
-Do take it seriously ensuring a quiet confidential safe space.
-Do be honest with them
-Do be clear that if there is a safeguarding concern you cannot keep the information to yourself but that it will only be shared in a confidential way on a need to know basis.
-Do explain what will happen next and reassure that you
will support them.
-Do reassure them that he or she is right to tell.
-Do If possible make notes during the disclosure and use to check back as they are written that they truly reflect what they think they have said .At the end of the disclosure write down an immediately report of what happened to be kept the notes and record the time and date and your signature.
DON'T
-Don't how shock
-Don't try to silence or ask leading questions
-Don't agree to or keep the secret
-Don't respond with comments that make them feel they are not believed such as are you sure? why didn't you say that before ? or 'I can't believe it , I am shocked'.
-Don't Jump to conclusions
-Don't do anything to contact the family or perpetrator – this may place both the victim and yourself at risk .
-Don't make any effort to remove them from the safe confidential space until they are ready in non urgent situations or in urgent situations until help has arrived
...........................................
REPORTING
-Do Report immediately to appropriate agencies to get urgent support . If it is not safe for the individual to return home a call should be made to the Police or Local Authority Social Services Dept for them to be removed to a place of safety also advising if and when the victim is due to be collected - written recording may need to be completed after this.
-Do report to the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser and either you or the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser must also ensure the incident is reported to the local Social Services or Police Department . Out of hours report directly to the Police or Social Services Department and also ensure the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser is informed . Always when any referral is made make sure there is clear agreement who is to perform the referral to the statutory agencies . A copy of your written report including any rough notes must be forwarded to the Diocesan Co-Ordinator by noon the next day
A referral form for your report CM-1 is available on the CSSA website and must be accompanied with any rough notes made at a time of a disclosure https://catholicsafeguarding.org.uk/resources/safeguarding-forms/
-Do not try to inform the family as this may place both yourself and the victim at risk. Leave this to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team or Statutory Agencies to sort .If family arrive to collect before a victim is removed to a place of safety it may be necessary to complete a 999 call to the Police again to come to protect yourself and the victim
TYPES OF ABUSE
TYPES OF CHILD ABUSE -More on NSPCC website
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect ........................................................................
TYPES OF ADULT ABUSE ( may also apply to child abuse) .
More information www.nhs.uk ...................................................................
Neglect ,Physical abuse ,Sexual abuse , Emotional abuse
through neglect or exposure to violence at home eg Domestic abuse or in social or organizational settings or violence through war. County lines (involvement of children in drug trafficking) ,Child criminal exploitation (involving children in other types of crime ) ,
Bullying and cyberbullying, Child sexual exploitation (Harmful sexual behaviour HSB) online or through Grooming or enticement or direct exposure to witnessing sexual acts ,Rape , Child trafficking and modern slavery. Female genital mutilation .(FGM) Digital abuse is the use of technology, to
control or harass eg phones, social media, or tracking apps, public use of personal information without consent
Sexual abuse : indecent exposure, sexual harassment, through
looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, being forced to watch pornography or sexual acts,
being forced or pressured to take part in sexual acts , rape. Physical abuse :being hit, slapped, pushed or restrained, denied
food or water, not being helped to the bathroom /toilet, misuse of medicines .Psychological /Emotional abuse, threats
to hurt abandon or isolate you, humiliating, blaming, , verbal abuse, cyberbullying , Domestic Abuse , Coercive control ,
Discrimination, Financial abuse , Modern Slavery , Forced Marriage , Neglect imposed or self neglect
'Child abuse may be physical, sexual, emotional or by neglect. It causes harm that often lasts into adulthood. If the abuser is a parent or if he or she is someone who is supposed to represent God and the Church the harm done can be even greater. Many continue to bear the wounds in their personality, in their close relationships and in their future hopes. Even so, survivors of the various forms of abuse witness to the capacity of the human person to overcome the pain and harm which has been perpetrated. God, who came into the world as a child, can still be found in the process of healing, in those who help in this process and in those who work to protect children
The State Parties......Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance,
Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community,
Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding,
Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity....................Recognizing the importance of international co-operation for improving the living conditions of children in every country, in particular in the developing countries,
Have agreed as follows (54 Articles)
ARTICLE 1 For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.
ARTICLE 2 1.. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.
ARTICLE 3 In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
'In order to understand the factors that really contribute to teenage pregnancy, we need to ask: why is it that some youngsters decide to have sex and others don't? For some it may be peer pressure, for others the influence of drink or perhaps just curiosity. One of the biggest factors in the decision is the youngster's attitude to pregnancy. Some teenagers actively want to get pregnant, and providing family planning is unlikely to change anything for this group. Other youngsters are keen to avoid pregnancy. Providing family planning makes these youngsters believe they are less likely to get pregnant and, as a result, more of them are likely to have sex. We are sometimes told, "Young people are going to have sex anyway - nothing will change that". Well, think about the following scenario. Say 100 youngsters have decided to have sex. Now say we were to remove all access to any form of family planning. Would all 100 still decide to have sex? Of course not! Those who want to get pregnant will still have sex. Some of the others will too, perhaps due to ignorance or peer pressure.However,at least some of those who are really keen to avoid pregnancy will now decide to abstain from sex.
The bottom line is that providing family planning in schools is likely to have two effects. Those girls who would have had sex anyway are less likely to get pregnant because they have greater access to contraceptives. However, the number of pregnacies among those girls who start to have sex as a result of providing family planning is likely to increase, because if they weren't having sex at all they wouldn't get pregnant.
We can only judge the overall effect by looking at the evidence. In fact, my research, recently published in the Journal of Health Economics, shows that increasing access to family planning for youngsters simply has not reduced teenage pregnancy rates.2
Many other papers have come to a similar conclusion. In the case of the morning-after pill, a study published in the British Medical Journal found that youngsters who were prescribed the morning -after pill were more likely to go on to have abortions at a later stage.3 Rather worryingly, little or no research has examined the impact of these types of policies on rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
There are two possible ways to interpret the finding that family planning has not reduced teenage pregnancies. One is that access to family planning removes a restraint on those teenagers who would otherwise not engage in sex. The other interpretation is that access to family planning has no effect on youngsters' behaviour at all. Either way, it seems very unlikely that recent proposals to provide condoms and the morning-after pill to youngsters at school without their parents knowing will help in reducing teenage pregnancies.'
'The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and rapid changes that have affected society and culture. Many families are living this situation in fidelity to those values that constitute the foundation of the institution of the family. Others have become uncertain and bewildered over their role or even doubtful and almost unaware of the ultimate meaning and truth of conjugal and family life. Finally, there are others who are hindered by various situations of injustice in the realization of their fundamental rights.
Knowing that marriage and the family constitute one of the most precious of human values, the Church wishes to speak and offer her help to those who are already aware of the value of marriage and the family and seek to live it faithfully, to those who are uncertain and anxious and searching for the truth, and to those who are unjustly impeded from living freely their family lives. Supporting the first, illuminating the second and assisting the others, the Church offers her services to every person who wonders about the destiny of marriage and the family' Familiaris Consortio ,Pope John Paul II,1981.
'A child is not something owed to one,but is a gift. The supreme gift of marriage .....If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offence....... Divorce is a grave offence against the natural law. It claims to break the contract , to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death........... it introduces disorder into the family and society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse ,to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them.'
Chapman(1994)The Catechism of the Catholic Church ,2378, 2383 -2385
Does he cut her off from family and friends and try to isolate her?
Is he charming one minute and abusive the next, does he have sudden changes of mood - like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
Does he control her life - for example money, who she should see, what she should wear?
Does he monitor her movements?
Does he blame her for the abuse?
Does he humiliate or insult her in front of others?
Does he verbally abuse her?
Does he constantly criticise her?
Does he use anger and intimidation to frighten her and to make her comply with his demands?
Does he tell her she's useless and couldn't cope without him?
Has he threatened to hurt her or people close to her if she leaves?
Does she change her behaviour to avoid making him angry and triggering an attack?
Does he force her to have sex when she doesn’t want to?
Domestic violence 'Whether it occurs in public or in private, violence is unacceptable and we are determined to do all we can to prevent it...Domestic violence is any threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are or have been in a relationship, or between family members. It can affect anybody, regardless of their gender or sexuality.The violence can be psychological, physical, sexual or emotional. It can include honour based violence, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage.' Children witnessing abuse become at risk of becoming emotionally abused themselves and may also become physically abused through exposure to domestic violence sometimes leading to necessary child protection procedures to safeguard them (Home Office 2010)
'where social and cultural conditions so easily encourage a father to be less concerned with his family or at any rate less involved in the work of education, efforts must be made to restore socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance.(72) As experience teaches, the absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable difficulties in family relationships, as does, in contrary circumstances, the oppressive presence of a father, especially where there still prevails the phenomenon of "machismo," or a wrong superiority of male prerogatives which humiliates women and inhibits the development of healthy family relationships' FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO, PART 1 ; 25, Pope John Paul II click here for full text
