The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is examining the prevalence of paedophilia in the English Benedictine Congregation and failures in protecting young people.

This will focus on offenders that targeted children at two Roman Catholic schools, Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset, over the course of many decades.

But although numerous inquiries have exposed the problem of child abuse within church institutions and a string of offenders convicted, lingering safety concerns could remain, it was heard.

Counsel to the inquiry Riel Karmy-Jones told a hearing at IICSA’s headquarters in south London: “It may be that during the course of evidence and the submissions to come (that) there is some acceptance of failings, but reliance will be placed on changes that have been made over the years.

“But, as you will hear, concerns remain and you are likely to hear evidence that suggests safeguarding problems are still ongoing, in some instances, and with the inevitable result that children may remain at risk.”

The Roman Catholic Church is one of 13 arms of public life being scrutinised for child safety failings by IICSA.

Turning a blind eye to paedophilia should be made a criminal offence so Church institutions are discouraged from hushing up scandals, a victims’ lawyer said.

Richard Scorer, who represents 27 core participants to the inquiry, said some Catholic Church schools concealed offending out of concerns for their…

The unrest was sparked over an omitted reference to Islam’s Prophet Mohammed in a parliamentary bill.

Leighton Medley from the British Pakistani Christian Association told Premier he was forced to flee with his wife on Sunday while on a missionary trip in the country.

He said: “There were many …trucks that were parked up there …and I was the only Westerner and I started to get quite a few funny looks – being the only Western presence there.

“There have been reports of kidnapping in the past so I had to relocate.”

At least two people died and more than 250 others were injured in street demonstrations as protesters clashed with security forces.

The Islamists for the past three weeks have been demanding for the country’s law minister to resign for the change in the electoral oath that omitted declaring prophet Muhammed the last of the prophets.

Zahid Hamid apologised for the omission in the bill, saying it was a clerical error that was later corrected, but the Islamists persisted, taking to the streets and setting up a sit-in at the Faizabad intersection on the edge of the Pakistani capital.

On Monday, a sense of peace was restored as protesters took to the streets to celebrate Mr Hamid’s resignation.

The Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party, which was behind a sit-in in Islamabad and protests in other cities and towns across Pakistan, said they were dispersing peacefully under an agreement with the…

Data obtained through freedom of information requests from 32 NHS Trusts showed around 60 per cent of under-18s who were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services by their GP were not receiving treatment.

Several didn’t have a formal diagnosis and therefore didn’t qualify for medication but the number of under-18s admitted to A&E for self-harm has increased by 50 per cent in five years.

The charity aims to prevent the increased figure by intervening at an earlier stage with a programme called Family Intervention for Self Harm (FISH).

Spurgeons Children’s Charity said when families are involved in the prevention process, there is often much more success.

CEO of Spurgeons Children’s Charity, Ross Hendry, told Premier: “What’s unique about the Spurgeons’ approach, and we believe it’s a biblical, Christian approach, is that we don’t deal just with the individual teenager but we deal with that teenager within the context of their family.

“So we believe actually the safe nurturing environment where a child flourishes is within the family and a stable, loving home.”

Hendry said Christians have a specific powerful message.

He added: “If there’s nothing else that transforms your view of your own identity, your self-worth and your opinion of yourself, it’s when it’s when you believe you’re a child of God.

“So, I think there’s a really powerful message for Christian charities like Spurgeon’s and the local church to reach out and show teenagers there is…