POPE Francis has personally backed a Cumbrian mum’s campaign to put survivors at the heart of preventing sexual abuse in religious settings.
Over the last three years, 49-year-old Kirkbampton woman Atonia Sobocki has battled to prevent and deter church linked abuse, using so-called 'loudfence' events to dramatically amplify survivors' voices and press for improved safeguarding.
Loudfences involve survivors - and their supporters – speaking out by attaching their messages to ribbons tied to church railings or fences.
An idea that is as powerful as it is simple, it has allowed hundreds of victims to be heard, with many demanding radical reforms to end what they see as a culture of reputational protection that silences victims.
Antonia staged the country’s first loudfence in November 2020, outside Kirkbampton’s St Peter’s Anglican church, a few miles west of Carlisle.
Widely praised, it triggered a spate of similar events - in Plymouth, Birmingham, Newcastle and also at Carlisle Cathedral, which now combines its own loudfence event with an annual All Survivors Day in November.
Such has been loudfence’s impact that it has spread across the globe, with interest from across Europe and also the United States.
In recent weeks, the movement gained new momentum as it emerged that Antonia’s loudfence mission has reached into the very heart of the Catholic Church, with Pope Francis personally and publicly endorsing it.
Antonia met Pope Francis – leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics – after being invited to Vatican City last month to address the Church’s influential Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
For the first time, as she addressed the senior Catholic clergy, Antonia revealed that she too was a victim of sexual abuse. She spoke movingly of how her experience inspired her to fight for reform within the Catholic and Anglican churches.
Recalling her meeting with Pope Francis, on September 19, Antonia said: “I gave him a loudfence ribbon and he said: 'It’s 'molto bello' [very beautiful], and a symbol of hope for the whole church'. He said that the loudfence should be everywhere.
“I thought: ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ You don’t go to Rome assuming you’re going to meet the Pope.
“I was talking to him for about 15 minutes, and he said we have to be compassionate and we have to listen to the difficult stories. Compassion has to be our defining characteristic.”
As she addressed the Commission, speaking for 45 minutes without a script, Antonia called for the church to prioritise supporting survivors and safeguarding over protecting the church’s reputation.
She spoke also of her own abuse experience, saying she sought solace and support from her church. Of her decision to reveal this, she said: “I can’t expect people talk freely about abuse if I can’t do that myself.
“Silence is the best friend of the abuser. I hear that all the time and hear it from so many people. They say they feel ashamed. I say it’s not your shame; you need to return it to where it belongs, the abuser.
“It takes a long time to feel that you can deal with it; I’ll be 50 in January, and this is me just beginning to feel okay.”
While in Vatican City, Antonia took part in a mass at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome, leaving hundreds of loudfence messages there, including from parishioners of St Peter's Church in Kirkbampton.
She continued: “When this began, I thought it would help five people in Cumbria; it’s now spread across Europe and across the Atlantic because we have groups starting up in Spain, in France, in Ireland, in Italy, and in the US.
“It’s huge.
“Who would have thought this could happen from a church railing in Cumbria? It feels like finally, on behalf of all the people who confided in me, I can say your voice has been heard.
“It feels like a huge breakthrough. The voices of survivors need to be responded to because failing to do so is not just re-traumatising, it is re-abusive.
“There are always two parts to abuse. The first part is the actual abuse and the second is how we treat people when they finally disclose. Failing to respond in a trauma informed and caring manner inflicts yet more pain.
“Abuse causes multiple layers of loss. You grow up with a distorted vision of ourself and our own value and self-worth. This keeps us silent. Our abusers flourish in the comfort of our silence.
“That’s why speaking out is so important.
“Loudfence tells survivors that what happened to them mattered. We’re not going to stop.”
Antonia has set up an independent Catholic ecumenical community interest company to help the loudfence movement spread.
Currently unfunded, it is being supported by professionals with expert knowledge, including a Carlisle born GP with expertise in adolescent mental health.
Antonia added: This feels like a very Cumbrian thing that’s happened here.
“I wanted to celebrate Cumbria. It tends to be Canterbury and York and all these other places that get bigged up; and just for once, I wanted Cumbria to be recognised as a place of change. Never underestimate a little church.”
A spokesman for The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said: “The Loudfence initiative, pioneered by Antonia Sobocki, who recently met with Pope Francis and the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is to be applauded.
“It presents an opportunity to physically display support and solidarity with those affected by abuse as well as promoting quiet time for prayer and reflection.
“Abuse has no place in the Catholic Church.
“Safeguarding lies at the heart of the Church's ministry and central to that is listening attentively to the voices of those who have been abused.
“At no point will the Church stop on its journey of dedicated effort in making the life and work of the Church safe for all.”
Loudfences were first held in Ballarat, Australia. But Antonia has developed the concept in the UK with a philosophy that encourages constructive dialogue with religious leaders rather than an adversarial approach.
In 2022, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report, with 15 different investigation strands, including the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.
It found that between 1970 and 2015, the Roman Catholic Church received more than 900 complaints involving over 3,000 instances of child sexual abuse against more than 900 individuals connected to the Church.
The Church of England also failed to protect children and young people from sexual predators within their ranks, according to the report.
From the 1940s to 2018, 390 people who were clergy or in positions of trust associated with the Church have been convicted of sexual offences against children. Both Anglican and Catholic church leaders have vowed to reform.
Find out more
How a Cumbrian born campaign to help abuse survivors achieved global reach.
For more information of Antonia's campaign, log on to her LOUDfence UK website or you can follow her twitterfeed.
For comprehensive background about the issue more generally, you can read the report of The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
You can also find out about relevant issues from the website of the NSPCC.
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