Ireland: Church & government apologise after publication of Cloyne report

Cross Monasterboice

The Irish government and Catholic Church leaders in Ireland have apologised following the publication of the Cloyne Report, an inquiry into the failings surrounding abuse allegations in the diocese of Cloyne.

For a detailed breakdown of the report see: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14143822

Cardinal Seán Brady, Primate of All Ireland, said: "The publication of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Child Safeguarding in the diocese of Cloyne represents another dark day in the history of the response of Church leaders to the cry of children abused by Church personnel. I welcome this Report. Earlier today, Archbishop Dermot Clifford apologised to the survivors of abuse and their families, to the people of the diocese of Cloyne and to the wider Church. I apologise and express my shame and sorrow at what has happened.

Especially during these days I ask that we remember, in our thoughts and prayers, all those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, as a result of abuse.
 
For those who are suffering the Church provides professional support and the recently established Towards Healing service is available to assist survivors.

The findings of this Report confirm that grave errors of judgement were made and serious failures of leadership occurred. This is deplorable and totally unacceptable.

These serious failures were first investigated by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church whose report was published in December 2008. I commend the National Board for its determination to fulfil the mandate given to it of devising and overseeing the implementation of best practice in safeguarding children throughout the Church. One positive aspect to come out of Judge Murphy's Report is the confirmation that the Church-established structures of review and accountability have been proven to work effectively.

The current Church environment for children is a totally different one to that of the past. As was publicly reported by the National Board on 11 May last:

* it has been advised that all allegations of abuse have been reported to the statutory authorities, North and South;

* all dioceses have safeguarding personnel in each of the 1,386 parishes on the island;

* thousands of volunteers in Ireland have undergone training in order to fulfil their safeguarding roles throughout the Church;

* in addition, the National Board has provided training to 52 groups on various aspects of safeguarding guidelines;

* priority has been given to the ongoing programme of audit of dioceses and religious congregations. As stated by the Board last week, audits of three dioceses have been completed and three further diocesan audits will be completed by the end of the month.

The Commission of Inquiry states that in all my dealings with Bishop Magee, my overriding objective was to ensure that safeguarding practice in Cloyne be prioritised and implemented and that Bishop Magee should be available fully to assist the Commission of Inquiry led by Judge Murphy.

It was my view, from an early stage, that an Apostolic Administrator be appointed to administer the diocese while Bishop Magee remained available to assist the Commission of Inquiry in its work.

Today's Report highlights again the necessity for continuing vigilance and full cooperation with the civil authorities, and the National Board, in the critical area of safeguarding children. I call today for the introduction of legislation to support mandatory reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse to the statutory authorities.

I welcome the statement last week by the National Board that the resolution of the data protection issues earlier this year has cleared the way for the continuation of the audits of individual dioceses. The Church's full commitment to this partnership is a guarantee of best practice in child safeguarding.

Statement by the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Dermot Clifford, DD Apostolic Administrator, Diocese of Cloyne

I accept the findings of the Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child sexual abuse against a number of clerics in the Diocese of Cloyne. I wish to thank the members of the Commission on the completion of their very thorough investigation. This is the first time that the survivors of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne have had an opportunity to have their stories heard publicly.

I humbly apologise on my own behalf as Administrator of the Diocese, and on behalf of its clergy, to all who suffered and their families. I am appalled by the depth of damage and suffering caused by a minority of clergy in the Diocese, as outlined in this Report. Great pain was also caused to the families of those abused, whose strong relationship with the Catholic Church was, in a number of cases, damaged or destroyed.

The Report finds that the Diocese of Cloyne did not implement the procedures set out in the Church protocols for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse in the period concerned. It appalls me that, up to 2008, 13 years after these procedures were put in place, they were still not being implemented in the Diocese of Cloyne.
This means that the Church authorities in Cloyne failed some of those who were abused by not adhering to their commitments when dealing with complaints.

I note that in their statements issued today both the now retired Bishop John Magee and Mgr Denis O'Callaghan have accepted full responsibility and apologised for their failures in the implementation of the Church procedures, as outlined in the Report.

Since my appointment as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cloyne in March 2009, it has been part of my role to ensure that proper procedures are being followed in each and every complaint of child sexual abuse.

Building on many of the genuine improvements put in place prior to my appointment as Administrator, a large number of positive actions have taken place in the Diocese over the past three years.

Structures have been put in place to reach out to every corner of every parish in the Diocese of Cloyne so that people will have full and adequate information on the safeguarding of children and on what actions to take if suspicions arise in relation to child sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel.

I would like to mention just a few of the actions taken in the Diocese:

 * Bill Meagher, a former child care manager with the HSE, has been appointed Diocesan Designated Officer/Delegate for Safeguarding of Children

* The Diocese manages complaints, suspicions and concerns in accordance with the guidelines issued by the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church

* There is full co-operation and information sharing with An Garda Síochána and the HSE

* All priests in active ministry have been trained in safeguarding of children

* Special notice boards providing advice on the safeguarding of children and the means of obtaining further information and assistance have been erected in every parish.

* Garda vetting applications have been processed for all priests of the Diocese who are in active ministry, as well as many lay persons involved in other Diocesan activities.

I have circulated a comprehensive list of the safeguarding reforms implemented for your information. I believe it gives a good indication of the real improvements that have been put in place to ensure that children and vulnerable adults in Cloyne are safeguarded now and in the future.

Our child safeguarding team has been working with the assistance of the National Board on many of these improvements. Indeed it was through the National Board's intervention that the failures in the implementation of Church procedures in Cloyne first came to light. I wish to take this opportunity of apologising to the National
Board for the fact that it was provided with incomplete information when conducting its Review.

It is a very sad day for all the priests and people in the Diocese of Cloyne. We sincerely hope that our responses to complaints and the ongoing efforts in safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in the Diocese will go some of the way to atone for the grave failures of the past. Such failures must never be permitted to happen again.

I join with the Commission in expressing the hope that the publication of this Report can in some way assuage the hurt and anger that those abused and their families have experienced.

Statement from Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore on the publication of the Cloyne Report

I welcome the publication of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child sexual abuse against a number of clerics in the Diocese of Cloyne.

My first thoughts are for those who have been abused. I feel great disappointment and dismay that the authorities whose responsibility it was to implement nationally agreed procedures failed to do so and left children at risk. Their failure has compounded the suffering of those who have been abused and their families.

The publication of this report is a reminder of how necessary it is for bishops and for those in positions of responsibility to be continually vigilant and pro-active in ensuring that the Safeguarding Children procedures are fully and consistently implemented in dioceses. The guidelines and standards are about ensuring that our Church is a safe place for children.

It is particularly heartening that it was the work of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church that drew public attention to practices that were of concern. Hopefully this will go a long way to building confidence that the Catholic Church takes the safety of children as a paramount concern.

Finally, I repeat the appeal I have made before, that anyone with information regarding child sexual abuse by priests in Kilmore diocese make contact with one of our Designated Persons, the Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive or a support service of their choice. If they wish to access counselling they may contact the free, confidential helpline of the independent counselling service, Towards Healing. Contact details of the Diocesan Designated Persons and of Towards Healing are on Church notice boards and on the diocesan website: www.kilmorediocese.ie/

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said at the press conference this morning that many of the report's findings were "for others to account for." But, he said "for any failings on the part of the State through the years, we express our profound sorrow."

The Irish government has pledged to set up a vetting bureau, with new laws enacted in the autumn to allow the sharing of soft information on people wishing to work with children. There are also plans to bring in laws making it an offence to withhold information on crimes against children and vulnerable adults.

Source: Irish Catholic Media Office