SCOTLAND'S Catholic bishops appear to be ignoring the findings of an independent report into historic child abuse within the church, a former Kirk Moderator has claimed.
Dr Andrew McLellan, chair of the commission which investigated Catholic abuse following a series of scandals, said the Church had failed to deliver on its promises of acting on his recommendations and claiming it was at risk of "confirming the worst fears of survivors and observers".
In a letter co-signed by six other members of the commission, Dr McLellan makes a series of criticisms aimed at the Catholic hierarchy, including ignoring abuse survivors.
But the Church has refuted all allegations made by the Commission members, stating it had published its plans, including a public consultation on them, and was close to announcing the progress made since the report was released in August 2015.
It said Dr McLellan had last been in contact with the Church at the beginning of the year and would have provided a progress update had it been requested by the Commission members.
A spokesman said: "Since the Church allowed Dr McLellan two years to write his recommendations without comment, it is to be hoped that the in the same spirit of trust and generosity of spirit, the Church will be given at least the same amount of time to implement them."
Dr McLellan, also a former Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, was tasked with coming up with proposals aimed at making the Catholic Church in Scotland "a safe place for all".
The review commissioners, who include a senior police officer, a journalist and an MP, were tasked with assessing the quality of support available to survivors but it was not within their scope to investigate or adjudicate on current or historical allegations.
Announced following a series of scandals, most notably allegations of abuse at the former Catholic boarding school at Fort Augustus Abbey in the Highlands, the commission made recommendations, including calling for support for survivors of abuse to be an "absolute priority".
In the letter, co-signed by former Children's Commissioner Kathleen Marshall, ex-MP Lindsay Roy and four others, Dr McLellan accused the Church of failing to deliver progress reports, failing to contact survivors and lacking transparency in how they have acted on the recommendations.
It adds: "When will we see action from the Catholic Bishops of Scotland in response to the Report?
"Not only do the Scottish public know nothing of the action taken in response to the Report, as far as we can tell from Catholic friends the members of the church themselves know nothing.
"A year ago the Bishops might have used the opportunity of the publication of the Report to introduce systemic reform; now they are in danger of confirming the worst fears of survivors and observers by appearing to ignore its recommendations. The one response the Bishops must not make now is to say that things are being done 'behind the scenes'. That response would reveal that they have not understood the problem.
"If we feel frustrated and disappointed, how must survivors feel?"
A spokesman for the Bishops' Conference, the main decision-making body for the Church in Scotland, said: "On the day the report was released, the Bishops' Conference welcomed it and accepted its recommendations in full, undertaking to implement them all. This commitment has not diminished in any way, every recommendation will be implemented.
"Three months later, the Bishops published a detailed implementation plan, describing how all of the recommendations would be acted upon. The plan was posted online and open to consultation and comment.
"An independent review group as recommended by the Commission is being established. A chair has accepted and the members of the group are being confirmed. The group's first task will be to review the progress of the first 12 months of the implementation plan.
"Transparency and openness are at the heart of the Church's Safeguarding mission. No other church, charity or public body in Scotland publishes detailed annual audits nor have any undertaken a public consultation, as the Bishops' Conference did on its Implementation Plan."
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