Safeguarding Children is the theme of a newsletter just published by the Diocese of Ferns and distributed after Masses in every parish there.The newsletter is an update on child protection more than three years since the publication of the Ferns report in October 2005.
“It is to give people an update of the situation – listening to recent media coverage about child protection procedures people might imagine there is no compliance or that there is shady practice but actually this is an exercise in communicating exactly what this situation is. We distribute that (newsletter) at the church doors on Sunday mornings and ask people to study it, and for want of a better term, to keep an open mind,” Diocesan Communications Office Director, Fr John Carroll told ciNews.
“We are open to their feedback and it is early days yet but so far it has been positive.”
The newsletter gives details of the policy and procedures for child protection as well as several personal experiences of priests, parish representatives and youth leaders who have undertaken child protection training.
In an article in the newsletter entitled How is the Diocese Guided in Safeguarding Children? Bishop Denis Brennan states: “The diocese is not in receipt of any concerns regarding child protection and its present personnel - or former personnel - which it has not shared with its own advisory panel, the Gardaí, and HSE. The Gardaí and HSE have confirmed this to be the case for themselves also. All directives or recommendations which the diocese has received from the Holy See, the advisory panel, the Gardaí and the HSE have been implemented.”
The bishop writes that all allegations of child sexual abuse involving priests are referred, by the bishop, for direction to the Holy See in line with the 2001 apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II, The Safeguarding of the Sanctity of the Sacraments.
An external advisory panel reviews child protection issues in the diocese and makes recommendations to the bishop.
There is also an inter-agency committee that involves the bishop meeting with Gardaí and HSE when necessary.
“Inter-Agency meetings were an initiative of the Diocese of Ferns six years ago,” Fr John Carroll told ciNews.
“We asked the Minister to enshrine it in law and that hasn’t happened. We maintain that practice anyhow.”
There is a parish representative trained in child protection in most parishes in the diocese now and priests and youth leaders have also been trained.
One youth leader for the Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage praised the two day course saying there is danger of naivety amongst leaders taking young people on a pilgrimage.
But that leaders must have knowledge of the boundaries to maintain when with young people and the reporting procedures if allegations of abuse are made.
Fr Aodan Marken who wrote of his experience of intensive and comprehensive training emphasized the paramount principle of “Children First” when speaking of child protection and best practice. He also stated; “the one thing we should not do is do nothing.”
The document can be accessed by clicking here
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(Source: CIN)