Towards Healing

Roles & Responsibilities

The role of the Professional Standards Office

It is very important that the process of dealing with complaints of abuse is managed independently of the Church Authorities. This role lies with the Professional Standards Office. The Professional Standards Office is a neutral entity, whose function is to manage the entire complaint process and ensure that proper procedures are followed, with a view to resolving the matter as quickly as is possible in the circumstances.

 

The role of Church Authorities

The role of Church Authorities is to respond pastorally both to complainants and to those who are accused of abuse. The Authority is not asked to investigate the complaints nor to take sides between those who may have quite different versions of events. Rather, the Authority is free to act pastorally towards all concerned by leaving to others the responsibility for investigating the complaint and managing the process by which the complaint will be addressed.

The Church Authority is thus in a position of neutrality in relation to the allegations of abuse, but if the complaint of abuse is substantiated following independent investigation, then the Authority becomes a participant and decision-maker in the process of determining outcomes.