The chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission for
England and Wales (NCSC) and leading victims' groups have backed The Tablet's call for a public inquiry into child sexual abuse.The NCSC chairman Danny Sullivan said a national inquiry would give victims of abuse "in any institution" the chance to be heard and offer a "genuine calling to account of those responsible."
Anne Lawrence, spokeswoman for Minister and Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors (MACSAS), and Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) have also backed the idea of a public inquiry.
They were responding to a leader in last week's Tablet that called for Britain to follow Australia's example of setting up a royal commission to examine the causes of sexual abuse against children, and possible solutions.