RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS are part of a review of how Catholic dioceses
were dealing with clerical child sexual abuse, according to a bishops’
pastoral issued at the weekend.
The pastoral,
Towards Healing and Renewal , was published to mark the first anniversary of the pastoral letter from Pope Benedict XVI to Irish Catholics on the issue.
The
bishops’ pastoral said honesty about the response to past, present and
future allegations of child sexual abuse by priests was essential to
restoring trust and moving forward on the journey to healing and
renewal.
It added that the bishops’ conference, the Conference of
Religious of Ireland and the Irish Missionary Union had asked the
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in
Ireland to monitor, review and report on an annual basis on the
compliance of each diocese and religious congregation in child
safeguarding.
It said as part of a specific commitment by the
bishops to provide transparency about the past, the board had also
initiated a review of current and past practice of all 26 dioceses in
Ireland.
“This review will also be extended to each religious
congregation.”
According to the pastoral, some survivors of abuse
had spoken about the importance of having their stories properly heard
and remembered for future generations.
“We pledge ourselves to continue to explore with survivors of abuse how this might best be achieved,” it added.
The
pastoral pledged sufficient religious and laity would be trained in the
safeguarding of children and that there would be ongoing co-operation
with Garda vetting procedures.
It also announced a five-year
funding commitment to provide an enhanced counselling service for
victims, while abuse survivors dealing with issues of faith would have
help available in Ireland and Britain.
The first Friday of each
month would be dedicated to prayer and fasting in reparation for abuse
and the failure to address it adequately.
Bishop of Ardagh and
Clonmacnoise Dr Colm O’Reilly said in Longford yesterday that the Pope
had warned it would not be easy to address the problem of abuse.
“No
one knows this better than those who continue to live with the pain of
abuse in their own childhood,” he added. “Only someone who knows that
ache in the heart can fully appreciate the kind of struggle which
survivors of abuse face day after day.”
Campaigner for abuse
victims Andrew Madden said it was disappointing but by no means
surprising that there was not a single reference in the pastoral to the
role the bishops played in causing the sexual abuse of children by
priests to be covered up.
Accusing the bishops of glossing over
the issue, Mr Madden said he was one of the survivors who last year
asked that any bishop who had played a part in the cover-up of abuse by
priests resign his position.