London, July 30 (ANI): The Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Patricia Janet Patricia Janet has said Churchgoers should take priests out for a glass of wine or to football matches so they are not tempted to become paedophiles.
The former Labour minister said many priests have a 'fairly lonely existence' and need to mix more with their parishioners on a social basis.
Baroness Scotland who is the chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission set-up to handle abuse claims, said paedophilia within the church should not be a taboo subject.
Her outburst came as official figures showed there was a three-fold rise in historic child abuse complaints in the Catholic Church last year, The Daily Mail reports.
Child protection experts claim that church leaders end up becoming abusers because they are 'isolated'.
"One of the things that came out very strongly from the research is that those who abuse have often seen themselves as being very lonely, isolated and unsupported emotionally," The Baroness was quoted, as saying.
"The priests and religious people are people too - they need friendship and comfort and someone to have a glass of wine with and watch the football or whatever it is. That is something that people sometimes forget," she added.
According to the annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, there were 83 sex abuse claims relating to 103 victims and 92 alleged abusers in 2010.
The Catholic Church in England and Wales underwent sweeping reforms to its child protection procedures following intense criticism about the way it handled abuse scandals in the past. (ANI)
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