Independent report into abuse in the Scottish Church set for release

The findings of the McLellan Commission, set up to investigate the issue of abuse in the Scottish Church, will be published today.

Dr Andrew McLellan, a non-Catholic, led an independent review of how the Church handles allegations of abuse. A number of abuse victims were interviewed during the course of the commission’s investigations.

Dr McLellan, who is a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, was asked to come up with proposals to make Scotand’s Catholic Church “a safe place for all”.

Others members of the commission include Malcolm Graham, assistant chief constable of Police Scotland, and Kathleen Marshall, former commissioner for Children and Young People.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, the president of the Bishops’ Conference for Scotland, will respond to the commission’s finding during a Mass in Glasgow later today.

The setting up of the McLellan Commission followed a number of scandals in the Scottish Church, including Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigning as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh two years ago following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Church also faced allegations of abuse connected to the Catholic boarding school, Fort Augustus Abbey, in the Highlands, which closed in the 1990s.

Alongside the review, the Scottish Church has pledged to publish annual audits of abuse allegations it receives – it has so far published two – and it has also announced a review of historic abuse allegations between 1947 and 2005, the findings of which will be published at a later date.