Scottish Catholic Observer

The investigation by the Vatican into the handling of clerical sex-abuse in Ireland will be published and made public, a senior aide to Pope Benedict XVI has pledged.

After reports by the Church in Ireland’s child protection watchdog into the handling of abuse in six Catholic dioceses were published last week, Archbishop Joseph Tobin said that, following the Apostolic Visitation to Ireland, the Vatican did not wish to hide the details or brush anything under the carpet. He said that the Church has got to take criticisms of its handling of clerical abuse seriously.

The report from the Apostolic Visitation, which was ordered by Pope Benedict, is expected to be published next year.

The senior cleric added that the Vatican would be ‘very interested’ to learn if any of the recommendations on safeguarding children had not been implemented.

Reports from Ireland

The reports published last week, which included two dioceses in the North of Ireland, by the National Board for Safeguarding Children, revealed that there were child abuse allegations against 85 priests across the six dioceses reviewed, from the period 1975 until the present, but only eight were ever convicted.

Following the reports’ publication, the Northern Ireland Police Service (PSNI) has asked why the Church did not inform police about a number of allegations of child abuse by priests, and senior officers now intend to examine the reports published into how the Church handled abuse allegations. The police are interested in the Church’s admission that it failed to pass some allegations to the authorities, to protect its reputation and that of some priests. It is understood the PSNI wants to know how the decisions were made and how many allegations were withheld and will then determine if there is a need for a formal inquiry.

Reaction to findings

In a summary of the reports’ findings, the Board for Safeguarding Children said ‘a marked improvement’ had taken place in two key areas.

“Firstly, reporting allegations to the statutory authorities occurs promptly and comprehensively,” it said. “Secondly, the need to create and maintain a safe environment for children in the Church is comprehensively accepted and implemented.”

Maeve Lewis, of the abuse victims’ group One in Four, said the audits ‘show that real progress has been made in putting in place child protection measures in the six dioceses.’ She did, however, express concern ‘regarding the number of priests against whom allegations have been made who are still in ministry.’