The safety, dignity and wellbeing of everyone who comes into contact with the Church are of fundamental importance to us. We are committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for children, young people and adults at risk, and to promoting a culture in which safeguarding is understood as the responsibility of the whole Church.
The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham follows the safeguarding standards and procedures of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Because Ordinariate clergy and communities are spread throughout the country, safeguarding is carried out in close cooperation with the local Catholic diocese. In Salisbury, this means that our Ordinariate community and priest work with the safeguarding structures of the Diocese of Clifton. Concerns are handled by the appropriate professional safeguarding team, which works, where necessary, with the police, social services and other statutory authorities.
Safeguarding is about more than responding when something has gone wrong. It includes creating safe environments, appropriate training, safer recruitment and DBS procedures, recognising possible signs of abuse or neglect, and ensuring that concerns are taken seriously and acted upon appropriately. The Church is also committed to listening to and supporting those who have suffered abuse, including those whose experiences took place many years ago.
If you have a safeguarding concern, whether relating to something current or something which happened in the past, you are encouraged to report it. You may contact the safeguarding team of the Diocese of Clifton or the Ordinariate’s Safeguarding Liaison. You do not need to raise a safeguarding concern with the local priest before contacting the safeguarding professionals directly.