An official inquiry due to be held into the handling of clerical abuse complaints in the Dublin archdiocese may be expanded to include other dioceses if a national audit of child protection measures indicates a need for such an investigation. Liam Reid and Patsy McGarry report
In a statement last night, Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan said the audit would seek to establish whether each diocese was complying with internal church guidelines from 10 years ago on how to deal with abuse complaints.
Mr Lenihan's announcement followed publication on Tuesday of the Ferns inquiry report which severely criticised the Catholic Church's response to allegations of abuse against 21 priests.
The inquiry found that the Ferns diocese is currently implementing proper child protection measures, removing priests from active ministry once an allegation is made. Yesterday, Opposition politicians called for a wider inquiry to establish whether other bishops were allowing priests to continue in ministry despite allegations.
Last night, victims' representative groups raised concerns about the lack of detail on how the Government's proposed audit would be carried out. Mr Lenihan said that "consideration is being given as a matter of urgency to the form and structure of that audit".
He will also be writing to the Episcopal Conference asking bishops to confirm and ensure that child protection measures in line with best practice were in place in all dioceses.
Yesterday a spokesman for Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said that following the audit, he would then consider whether the Dublin archdiocese inquiry should be expanded. Terms of reference are due to published shortly.
However, victims' representatives said they were concerned at the lack of clarity in the Government's outline of how the audit will operate. "We would feel very strongly that the diocese carrying out a self-audit is entirely inappropriate and would be questionable in the very least," said Colm O'Gorman of One in Four.
"If the Ferns report tells us anything, it tells us that the State cannot stand back and allow the Catholic Church to discharge its responsibilities."
He said One in Four had proposed to Government that the Dublin archdiocese inquiry, which is to be formally established next month, could also be asked to carry out a preliminary independent audit of other dioceses, where it could then suggest individual cases or dioceses which needed a full investigation.
The chief whips of the main Dáil parties have been in discussions on having a one-day debate on the report and its findings. The parties are also discussing the possibility of referring the Ferns report to a number of Oireachtas committees in order to allow public hearings to be held to examine its findings and recommendations.
Yesterday in the Dáil Taoiseach Bertie Ahern defended the Government's record on child protection, and said it had introduced a series of measures, such as the Garda vetting unit and the monitoring of sex offenders.
Bishop Eamonn Walsh, apostolic administrator of Ferns diocese, confirmed last night that five priests, against whom abuse allegations came to light too late to be investigated fully by the Ferns inquiry, are still in active ministry in the diocese.
He said that in each case the diocese's advisory panel and its inter-agency review committee concurred, following an investigation, that child protection was not an issue with any of the five priests. The advisory panel is made up of lay people, including experts, and was set up to advise the diocese on child protection issues. The inter-agency review committee includes representatives of the diocese, the local Garda, and the local health authorities.
Meanwhile, Fr Gerard McGinnity, removed as senior dean at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, in 1984 when he brought seminarians' concerns about then college vice-president Mgr Michael Ledwith to the attention of its bishop/trustees, has called for the injustice to be corrected. "It is within their powers to ensure and see to it that this is done. Otherwise mere apologies are empty and effectively meaningless," he said.