A spokesman for the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said the organisation’s legal advisers are to meet with legal representatives for the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSCCC) to discuss the Irish Church’s first uniform guidance on Leave from Sacred Ministry and Apostolate for Clergy and Religious.
The new interim guidance, which has been adopted on a trial basis for one year, has the endorsement of the bishops, the IMU and CORI.
It establishes consistent practice and standardised procedures in relation to accused priests by the Irish Church.
The procedures for managing concerns, suspicions and allegations set out in the guidance underline that the respondent or accused priest or religious enjoys the presumption of innocence at every stage under civil and canon law.
It states that all appropriate steps will be taken to protect the accused person’s reputation.
On the matter of the standing aside from ministry by accused priests, the guidance appears to adopt a more cautious approach than previously indicated in negotiations last year.
The guidelines now stress that a respondent may, as opposed to will, be asked to withdraw from a particular office and from other forms of sacred ministry and apostolate during the course of any civil, church, or canonical investigation.
These include the public celebration of the Mass and other sacraments.
However, the guidance underlines that there are two factors that will determine a bishop’s or congregational leader’s action on this, namely the credibility of the allegation and the potential risk to children.
It also states that while allegations are being investigated, the presumption of innocence applies, therefore leave from sacred ministry, “is a precautionary measure” and, “does not impute guilt, nor should the action [of leave from ministry] per se prejudice any civil or canon law process.”
On the naming of the accused priest or religious, the guidelines state that the bishop or congregational leader are responsible for what is said and they must consult the accused on this.
The guidance also highlights that, as part of a risk management plan, the making of a public statement on an accused priest “is a matter of necessity where the respondent remains resident in the parish or congregation.”
However, bishops and congregational leaders are urged to emphasis the presumption of innocence and to take great care not to prejudice the outcome of any civil or canonical investigation.
Speaking to ciNews last December when the bishops signed off on the guidelines, the NBSCCC’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Elliot, said the guidance is “not proscriptive, but allows for each case to be assessed and decided upon its own merits.”