Church braced for revelations in other reports
THE Irish Catholic Church is set to be rocked by further sex abuse revelations with the publication of further damning reports over the coming weeks.
The report from the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation into how the archdiocese handled allegations of clerical child sex abuse between 1975 and April 2004 is expected to be published at the end of the month.
In November, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin rang alarms bells with the revelation that as many as 400 children had been identified as possible victims of sex abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese.
And further shock-waves are expected next month with the publication of the Ryan (formerly Laffoy) Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, on the abuse of children in reformatories, industrial schools and orphanages run by 18 Catholic religious congregations.
Victims have given harrowing stories as to what horrors of physical and sexual abuse went on in these enclosed clerical-run institutions.
But much evidence was also heard in private, and the totality of the report should provide a rounded indictment of civil servants in the departments of justice and health who colluded with the iniquities of monks and nuns.
In response to this avalanche of bad news, Cardinal Sean Brady has given his blessing to another internal Catholic Church review.
He has asked Ian Elliott, the CEO of its National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), to seek a written commitment from every bishop, every religious congregation and missionary society to implement all statutory guidelines and the agreed policy of the Bishops' Conference, the Irish Missionary Union and the Conference of Religious of Ireland.
The Cardinal has also suggested to the board that it might explore the possibility of conducting a review of the current child safeguarding practice in every diocese across the island.
- John Cooney
