An independent audit of the handling of sex-abuse complaints in six Irish dioceses by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) has found a marked improvement in recent months.
However, the NBSCCC says Church officials regularly overlooked the rights of victims in order to protect priests, they covered up evidence of abuse, moved accused priests to new parish assignments, and failed to inform civil authorities about abuse complaints.
Reports from six dioceses in Ireland revealed a total of 85 priests with allegations against them.
However new policies set in place by the Irish Bishops have substantially remedied those failings, the report said.
The NBSCCC was particularly critical of the handling of complaints in the Raphoe diocese, whose former leader, Bishop Seamus Hegarty, resigned last week from his post as Bishop of Derry.
Bishop Philip Boyce, the new bishop of Raphoe apologised for “poor judgements” in managing priests accused of “horrific acts of abuse”.
“Insufficient emphasis was placed on the needs of victims, often in the misguided attempt to protect the reputation of the Church”, he said.
The two main improvements identified by the NBSCCC are
- reporting allegations to the statutory authorities now occurs promptly and comprehensively
- the need to create and maintain a safe environment for children in the Church is comprehensively accepted and implemented
“I think we have got to be encouraged, what these reviews prove is the Church in Ireland’s dedication to complete transparency and accountability when it comes to the issues of allegations of clerical child sex abuse..we have seen a huge leap forward in this and full credit goes to the bishops and their diocesan teams who are implementing the standards for safeguarding children in the Church”, said Ian Elliot, NBSCCC chief executive.
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.”
However, she expressed concern “regarding the number of priests against whom allegations have been made who are still in ministry”.
John Heaney, 53, who was abused by other children at a home run by the Catholic Church in Derry, said the review was “a PR exercise by the Church to get people back into Mass”.
“It’s a disgrace, this is only about saying ‘look at what we’ve put in place, look how great we are now’. Well it’s too late, not even a hint of an apology,” he said.
“If you look at the report, there’s not one mention of prior 1975 victims, there is no mention of any type of help or support for those people still suffering to this day due to the abuse.”
Despite the acknowledged improvements, the report’s conclusions have increased pressure for further judicial inquiries, similar to the Murphy and Ryan commissions.
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