{"id":2,"date":"2023-07-06T17:59:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T17:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-02-01T20:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T20:01:15","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"\"Jesus said: \u2018I am the\u00a0light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u2019 <\/em><\/strong>(John 8:12)<\/strong><\/p>

The Catholic Church has \u201ca duty to serve humanity in different ways, but one way in particular imposes a responsibility of a quite special kind: the diakonia – the service – of the truth\u201d (Fides et Ratio<\/em>, Pope St John Paul II, 1998).<\/p>

The light of truth, revealed to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ, is the principle which must guide the expression of all authentic Christian communication. Indeed, truthfulness and transparency are vitally important for the integrity and trustworthiness of all forms of human communication. Sadly, in the Church as in society in general, this has all-too-often been lacking.<\/p>

It is a cause for deep shame and regret that some members of the Church, especially clergy, religious and lay people entrusted with positions of leadership in the Church and its institutions, have on occasions failed to be faithful in their \u2018service of the truth\u2019. By this negligence they have also failed to defend and protect the innocent and most vulnerable amongst us. A combination of hubris and a misdirected desire to \u2018protect the Church\u2019s reputation\u2019 has caused untold harm and suffering, all too often perpetrated or perpetuated by those in positions of the greatest trust.<\/p>

It is the light of truth itself that has brought these past failures within the Church rightly into the open; failures for which I as a bishop feel profound sorrow and shame. My heart grieves especially for those within our own Diocesan Family whose lives have been devastated by abuse. This was not \u2013 and is not \u2013 Christ\u2019s way. Truth and justice require that we shine a light into those dark places. What was once shrouded in secrecy, darkness and denial must now be communicated with clarity, courage and compassion.<\/p>

The Diocese of Leeds Safeguarding Communications Plan <\/strong><\/a>is to set out how, within the Diocese of Leeds, we promise to care safely for others; how we will communicate our policies, our best practice, our guidance and our openness in providing safe, welcoming church environments; and how we will demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that the safeguarding of children, young people and adults at risk is at the heart of the Church’s mission.<\/p>

\"\"
Bishop of Leeds<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Safeguarding Policy<\/a> – <\/strong>This Policy is designed to assist Clergy, Religious Communities, Volunteers, Staff, Parishes and other Catholic groups, to understand their responsibilities towards safeguarding the welfare of any person who worships or is involved in activities organised in the name of the Catholic Church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Diocese of Leeds Baseline Audit Report Executive Summary<\/a> – <\/strong>This is an executive summary of the baseline safeguarding audit report for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds. The audit was undertaken by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) as part of its programme of baseline audits throughout the 22 Roman Catholic Dioceses of England and Wales.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

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Safeguarding Communications Plan<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Parish Safeguarding Statement<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Reporting a concern about a child or adult at risk<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Support for survivors<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Safer recruitment & DBS applications<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Parish safeguarding representatives<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Contact us<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Creating a safe environment<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Safeguarding training<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Parish safeguarding resources & links<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Trustee's safeguarding committee<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n Safeguarding Feedback Form<\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus said: \u2018I am the\u00a0light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u2019 (John 8:12) The Catholic Church has \u201ca duty to serve humanity in different ways, but one way in particular imposes a responsibility of a quite special kind: the diakonia – the service […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":175,"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1136,"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/1136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk\/safeguarding\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}