Full report here:-

View & download pdf here:

View & download pdf here:

Root & Branch and Scottish Laity Network are deeply grateful to MACSAS (Ministry and Clerical Sexual Abuse Survivors) and Catholic Survivors

for supporting us and guiding our planning.

This powerful series seeks positive, lay-led and empowering outcomes to create

a safe and just church for all people, especially the most vulnerable.

'There are problems, issues, within the Church about which we choose to remain silent rather than speaking. The clearest example which comes to everyone’s mind is the sexual abuse crisis that the Church went through and is still going through.'

Cardinal Mario Grech,  

Campion Hall, 23 March 2022,

homily at the opening Mass of the conference on Synodality

This learning resource is for anyone who wants to break this silence to understand more about the abuse of power in the Catholic Church and its impact on victims and survivors. 

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It's for anyone who wants to heal the horrendous, ongoing wounds – physical, spiritual, institutional, reputational - of clerical abuse.  

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Sadly there can be a huge distance between what we say we want and what we’re prepared to make happen. 

We hope that anyone who wants to contribute, in whatever way, to making the Church safe, inclusive and just will find that Stolen Lives helps them to understand the true scale of the issues involved.

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We hope that you will draw inspiration from the courage of survivors and the deep thinking of our speakers and others.

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Root & Branch and the Scottish Laity Network are very grateful to all our thought-provoking speakers for their permission to develop a learning resource based on their four talks. We would be honoured if people from other religions find it helpful in their own understanding of institutional abuse and its impact. 

Please catch up with our recordings below.