The director of the Irish Bishops' Conference Child Protection Office said yesterday he understood the church would supply to the State whatever information it required for its inquiry into clerical child sex abuse in the diocese of Ferns, reports Eithne Donnellan.
Mr Paul Bailey also said those conducting a separate independent audit of how complaints of abuse were handled by bishops in all dioceses would have full access to all church records. The audit is being commissioned by the Catholic Church. "My understanding is the audit will be conducted by independent people outside the church of high professional standing from various disciplines. They will have full access to all church records in every diocese in Ireland." Mr Bailey said Mr George Birmingham SC, who was asked by the State to decide which form of inquiry would best suit getting to the truth of what happened in Ferns, had not yet contacted the Hierarchy. However, he expected Mr Birmingham would negotiate with the church "what records are needed to conduct such an inquiry".
He believed the reason the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, said he would provide information to the State inquiry but did not specifically mention files, was because there were many records in files which did not pertain to the issue of child sexual abuse, some of which could be confidential.
Mr Bailey, a former president of the Irish Association of Care Workers, was appointed last July to advise bishops North and South on best practice in responding to allegations of abuse and to advise bishops on best practice in preventing abuse occurring in the future to children associated with the church. His brief is soon to be extended but how it would change would be determined by the independent audit, he said.
Mr Bailey said the church was slow to change but the announcement by the bishops that they would co-operate with the State inquiry and have an independent audit of their handling of abuse cases was a step in the right direction. "There's a bit of momentum built up now and I think it can only get better. I think it's a time of great opportunity for the church and I think the bishops are grasping that opportunity and will continue to do so."
He said there were many priests and nuns across the State who hadn't committed any offence who were "deeply affected by this crisis" and were questioning the institution of the church.
72% dissatisfied with bishops' statement
NEARLY three-quarters of people are dissatisfied with the bishops' statement on clerical child sex abuse, according to an RTÉ poll, reports Alison Healy. The telephone poll was conducted on the Marian Finucane programme yesterday morning and asked: "Do you feel that the bishops' statement yesterday adequately dealt with the clerical abuse crisis?" Of the 8,430 people who took part, 72 per cent said they did not feel the statement was adequate. The remaining 28 per cent were happy with the bishops' response.
A spokeswoman in the Catholic Communications Office said it was important to remember that the bishops' statement was just the beginning of a response from the Hierarchy. "This was not a final response from the bishops, it was the putting in place of a process to get to the truth," she said. The bishops would convene a follow-up meeting in the near future and they were very anxious to get the independent audit on sex abuseup and running as soon as possible.