IN 2018 The English Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse published a 222 page report on Ampleforth and Downside, two Benedictine abbeys with schools.  The report was based in part on transcripts of interviews conducted in December, 2017.  A further investigation concerning Ealing Abbey and school will begin in early 2019.  (The former abbot of Ealing was convicted of child abuse, fled England, and was arrested and imprisoned after hiding incognito for several years.)

IT was widely reported in September, 2018, that Fr. Bernard Green, OSB, a monk of Ampleforth, had been employed as a tutor at St. Benet's Hall, an Oxford permanent private hall in Oxford founded and run by Ampleforth Abbey. Fr. Bernard had previously been convicted of abusing a child while serving as a housemaster at Ampleforth.

ON October 14 The Tablet reported that the abbot of Ampleforth, Cuthbert Madden, intends to sue Abbot Christopher Jamison, Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation, demanding £10,000 (“to be given to charity”) as well as re-instatement as abbot of Ampleforth.  On October 17 the Tablet reported that the Congregation for Religious will conduct an Extraordinary Visitation into this question and make a recommendation regarding Abbot Cuthbert's re-instatement.

AMPLEFORTH ABBOT SUES ABBOT PRESIDENT FOR REINSTATEMENT OCT 15

FR. Cuthbert Madden is seeking a declaration that he was unlawfully prevented from returning to his role

The Abbot of Ampleforth, who voluntarily stepped aside after allegations were made that he had indecently assaulted four boys, has begun a civil action to be reinstated after not being allowed to resume his duties.

Fr Cuthbert Madden has issued legal proceedings against Fr Christopher Jamison, Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation, and three others. He is seeking a declaration that Fr Jamison improperly interfered with the investigation process and acted unlawfully in his treatment of him.

According to Fr Madden’s spokesman, he should be allowed to return to his job and home because, the spokesman said, a church inquiry had cleared him of sex abuse allegations. The spokesman said that the church investigation had concluded in a recommendation that Cuthbert Madden be reinstated as Abbot of Ampleforth.

Allegations were made against Fr Madden to North Yorkshire Police on 8 August 2016. Fr Madden was accused of having been overly tactile towards three pupils on several occasions when he was a junior master at Ampleforth in the early 1990s. Two investigations looked into these allegations: an investigation by North Yorkshire Police, which concluded on 2 November 2016, and an investigation by the Salford Catholic Safeguarding Commission, which concluded on 17 October 2017.

A further review panel evaluated the decision of the Salford investigation and delivered its decision on 16 April 2018. It recommended that Fr Madden be reinstated as Abbot of Ampleforth “subject to conditions”.

A spokesman for the English Benedictines said: “Safeguarding is an absolute priority of The English Benedictine Congregation. The Abbot President (Fr Christopher Jamison) has always had safeguarding as a key consideration in addressing this issue, co-operating with all the relevant authorities and taking advice from the Interim Manager nominated by the Charity Commission with responsibility for safeguarding at Ampleforth. As this matter is subject to legal proceedings, he will not be commenting at this stage.”

Fr Madden’s spokesman said in a statement: “When the matter comes to trial, this case will see the safeguarding processes of the Catholic Church – which are intended to both protect accusers and be fair to the accused – undergo close judicial scrutiny, with a number of very senior clerics giving evidence. Fr Madden’s case in the English High Court is being led by one of the world’s pre-eminent ecclesiastical lawyers, Mark Hill QC.”

He added that the case is also being looked into by the Holy See in Rome, “raising the possibility of a real conflict between the defective safeguarding procedures put in place by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the natural justice expressed in Canon Law”.  

The spokesman continued: “Father Cuthbert brings this claim extremely reluctantly. He has been investigated by the police and the church and neither found any evidence to support the allegations made against him. It is regrettable that he has to go to Court in order to be reinstated but an innocent man should not be treated as if he were guilty.”

A spokesman for Ampleforth Abbey said: “Fr Cuthbert Madden has always denied any wrongdoing. He stepped aside from his duties as Abbot when allegations were made against him. North Yorkshire Police investigated these allegations and brought no charges in November 2016. Since then has not returned to the Abbey whilst church authorities have carried out their own investigation.”

Richard Scorer, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon who acts for victims of abuse at Ampleforth, said: “I find it absolutely staggering that this man should be seeking to return as Abbot. Irrespective of the allegations against him personally, his role as one of the senior leaders at Ampleforth at a time when it has been beset by abuse scandals and forced to the brink of closure should disqualify him from any future leadership role. His references to human rights beggar belief – the rights of children to be free from abuse are far more important.”

VATICAN INTERVENES in MADDEN CASE OCT 16

THE Abbot of Ampleforth, Cuthbert Madden, strenuously denies any wrongdoing and has launched a legal challenge in the UK’s High Court to be reinstated

The Vatican has launched an investigation into whether a senior figure at Britain’s most prominent Catholic monastery and school can return to his role after allegations he indecently assaulted former pupils.

The Abbot of Ampleforth, Cuthbert Madden, strenuously denies any wrongdoing and has launched a legal challenge in the UK’s High Court to be reinstated. His spokesman says he has been “cleared” by civil and church authorities.

But The Tablet can report that the Holy See department which oversees monasteries and religious houses has asked two senior Benedictine monks to conduct a “visitation” into whether the abbot can resume his position. 

The investigation, due to start in the coming days, will be conducted by the Abbot General of the Sylvestrine Congregation, Michael Kelly, an Australian based in Rome, and the Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, Brendan Coffey, from Ireland.

“The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has decided to conduct an Apostolic Visitation in light of the question as to whether or not Abbot Cuthbert Madden should resume his powers as Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey,” a statement from Ampleforth confirmed.

“They wish to hear from all parties involved in this question. The community at Ampleforth Abbey will be cooperating fully with the nominated visitators.”

After completing their on-site inquiries, the visitors will write a report which will be submitted to the congregation for religious. That body will make a decision about whether he can return, which the Abbot can appeal through the Holy See’s church courts. Pope Francis is the final judge in the case.

The Pope has recently come under pressure for his handling of abuse cases but has repeatedly pledged a zero tolerance policy.

A lengthy Church review process of the allegations against Abbot Cuthbert found he could return to as abbot but under unspecified “conditions.”

While the Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation, Christopher Jamison has refused permission for the former abbot to return to his duties, Abbot Cuthbert claims this is unlawful. He is suing Abbot Christopher and three others for preventing him from returning to his “role and his home.”

Whatever the result of the civil legal action, however, the Ampleforth abbot will need sign off from the Holy See before he can return to his role.

The case of Abbot Cuthbert and the question of ministering under “conditions” will have echoes in the Vatican given debates over accountability of senior clerics and the call by survivors for more robust oversight of those in ecclesial authority. Church-imposed sanctions are also central to the explosive testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò against Francis who claimed that Archbishop Theodore McCarrick had been placed under restrictions by Benedict XVI.

Ampleforth, the largest monastic community in Britain, include the former Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Basil Hume, as one of its former Abbots, and is home to one of the world’s most prestigious Catholic schools.

Ampleforth College includes an illustrious list of past pupils including the Downton Abbey series creator, Julian Fellowes, the biblical scholar, and Ampleforth monk, Fr Henry Wansbrough and John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News.

In August, however, it was subject to a scathing report by a British state inquiry which found a culture of “appalling sex abuse” had taken place at Ampleforth’s school over decades. 

“It is clear to us from all the evidence we have heard during this inquiry that several systemic child protection and safeguarding challenges remain at Ampleforth to this day,” the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse concluded.

Abbot Cuthbert, 63, was elected by his fellow monks to the post of abbot in 2005, and re-elected for a second eight-year term in 2013, a role that had given him oversight of a monastic community of several dozen monks, a school, parishes, a monastic house in Zimbabwe and St Benet’s, a Permanent Private Hall at Oxford University. As part of reforms at Ampleforth, he stepped down as chairman of the trusts that run Ampleforth’s school and the Oxford private hall. 

In August 2018 the abuse inquiry said it expected the abbot to return to his post but later corrected this to say “no decision has yet been made whether to allow Abbot Cuthbert Madden to resume his powers as Abbot.”

Abbot Cuthbert stepped aside from his duties after the indecent assault allegations were lodged with North Yorkshire Police on 8 August 2016. The abbot was accused of having been overly tactile towards three pupils on several occasions when he was a junior master at Ampleforth in the early 1990s. After a three month investigation, the police closed their inquiries and decided to take the matter no further. 

A Church review process of the allegations then kicked in and was conducted by Salford Catholic Safeguarding Commission, which concluded on 17 October 2017. A further review then took place and, according to the particulars of the abbot’s legal claim, recommended that he should be reinstated as Abbot of Ampleforth “subject to conditions.”

It is not yet clear what these “conditions” are, or whether they relate to child protection and access to minors.

A spokesman for the abbot argued that a “police and a church inquiry cleared him of sex abuse allegations” and that he should be re-instated. And they stress he is bringing his claim “extremely reluctantly.”

The abbot is seeking a declaration that he was unlawfully removed from his role as abbot and is suing Abbot Christopher, the Catholic Trust for England and Wales - the legal entity of the Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales - and two others.

Earlier this year, Ampleforth was stripped of its responsibilities for child protection by the Charity Commission and a lawyer, Emma Moody, was placed in charge of safeguarding.

“First and foremost, protecting the charities’ beneficiaries from harm is our paramount concern at Ampleforth. Myself, the trustees and the staff team at Ampleforth remain resolutely focussed on keeping people safe and driving forward with a programme of continuing improvements,” Ms Moody told The Tablet when asked about her advice regarding Abbot Cuthbert.

But she added: “I am not in a position to comment on the detail of the Abbot’s case.”

A spokesman for Abbot Christopher said that “safeguarding was an absolute priority” for the English Benedictines and when addressing the Abbot Cuthbert issue he was “co-operating with all the relevant authorities and taking advice from the Interim Manager nominated by the Charity Commission [Emma Moody] with responsibility for safeguarding at Ampleforth.”

Richard Scorer, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon who acts for victims of abuse at Ampleforth, said: “I find it absolutely staggering that this man should be seeking to return as Abbot. Irrespective of the allegations against him personally, his role as one of the senior leaders at Ampleforth at a time when it has been beset by abuse scandals and forced to the brink of closure should disqualify him from any future leadership role.”

In July it emerged that the now former headmaster of Ampleforth had been suspended from the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) while the Department of Education had issued the school with a warning to improve its safeguarding procedures.

2020_High_Court_Ruling

30th January, 2020

High Court Claim an abuse of process

https://www.9sjs.com/news/high-court-claim-an-abuse-of-process/

Following an investigation into alleged misconduct on the part of Abbot Cuthbert Madden OSB (C) (which allegations were not maintained) a negative decision was made concerning his return to office as Abbot of Ampleforth. The decision was made by Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB (D1) with input from a Safeguarding Commission (D2) and an independent Review Panel. The advice given to D1 was obtained as part of the National Safeguarding arrangements for the investigation and resolution of safeguarding concerns within the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

C issued proceedings in the High Court challenging D1's decision and claiming declaratory relief and specific performance (including reinstatement to office). The claim was also directed against a number of additional defendants; including the Catholic Trust of England & Wales (D4). C alleged D4 was primarily or vicariously liable for the decision made and/or the process which led to it.

Each of the defendants applied for summary judgment and/or strike out on the grounds that the claims lacked any reasonable prospect of success. On behalf of D4, it was also submitted that the proceedings were an "abuse of process".

Following a two-day hearing before the Senior Master, the claims were struck out and summary judgment granted. The claim against D4 was struck out on the grounds that it lacked any reasonable prospect of success and constituted an abuse of process. The claimant was ordered to pay the Defendants' costs.

Ed Morgan appeared on behalf of D4.

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