A new round of public hearings begins on Monday when the Church of England will be asked more uncomfortable questions about how it handled child sexual abuse allegations.

The public hearings will take place over the next two weeks, until July 12, as part of the investigation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). 

The last public hearings held by IICSA focused on safeguarding failings in the Diocese of Chichester and specifically around Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes, who served 16 months in prison for sexual abusing young men and boys. He died earlier this month.

The interim report's conclusions were scathing towards those in positions of leadership, and questioned "why the Church's responses to sexual abuse in Chichester, including the Peter Ball case, were so inadequate".

"The responses to child sexual abuse were marked by secrecy, prevarication, avoidance of reporting alleged crimes to the authorities and a failure to take professional advice," it said. 

This time round, the inquiry will focus on the response of the Church of England to child sexual abuse allegations more generally.  The Church in Wales will be brought before the inquiry to answer similar questions.

The hearings will also look into the adequacy of current safeguarding policies and practices, and examine whether the seal of the confessional should be disregarded in cases of child sexual abuse. 

Guidance from the Church of England states that if someone admits child abuse during confession, priests are to "require" that they report their actions to the authorities or else withhold absolution.

Senior Church leaders giving evidence this week are the Bishop of Buckingham, Alan Wilson, the Bishop of Chester, Dr Peter Forster, the Suffragan Bishop of Berwick, Mark Tanner, the Area Bishop of Horsham, Mark Sowerby, and the head of the Church in Wales, Archbishop John Davies.

The inquiry will also hear from several safeguarding experts, including Sir Roger Singleton, Interim Director of the National Safeguarding Team, and Justin Humphreys, CEO of safeguarding charity Thirtyone:eight.

The latest round of public hearings falls over the Church of England's General Synod starting on Friday in York, where members will be presented with an update into safeguarding changes being made as a result of the inquiry. 

Last week, the Church of England's National Safeguarding Steering Group (NSSG) issued its full response to IICSA's interim report.

It said that action was already being taken in several areas, including reform of the Clergy Discipline Measure, the formal process by which the Church of England deals with complaints of serious clergy misconduct.

The York General Synod will be asked to approve amendments to the regulation of religious communities, giving them, for the first time, legal status and thereby subjecting them to new safeguarding requirements. 

The NSSG said it would "consider carefully" evidence from the July public hearings and promised that "concrete actions" would be taken to make parishes safer for children and vulnerable adults.

"The NSSG, on behalf of the Church of England, reiterates the apology to all those who have been abused by those who held a position of power and authority within the Church," the NSSG said. 

"It remains committed to ensuring that words of apology are followed by concrete actions to improve how all worshipping communities across the whole Church in its many forms - across its parishes, dioceses, cathedrals, religious communities, national church institutions and other church bodies – respond to concerns and allegations of abuse and to all victims and survivors of abuse and others affected by this, whilst at the same time working to prevent such abuse from occurring in the first place.

"The Church must continue to find ways to place children and young people at the centre of its response and safeguarding at the heart of its mission and culture." 

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