Catholic Church commissions review of child-protection structures

The Catholic Church has commissioned an independent review of how it deals with reports of child sexual abuse, to examine how its structures are working following reforms in the wake of previous scandals.

The review will include a survey of survivors of child sexual abuse who have reported this in the past two decades and make recommendations for possible reforms.

In response to a series of historical clerical abuse scandals, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland was set up in 2006.

Reports of abuse

The internal watchdog, which pushed reforms in how the church approached child protection, regularly audits how dioceses and congregations respond to reports of abuse.

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The church has commissioned consultants RSM Ireland to lead an independent review of its child-protection standards.

The review will run the rule over the experience of survivors who have reported abuse, such as what supports were offered and how they were treated after coming forward to church authorities.

The team conducting the review has said the timeframe it is examining was limited to the last 20 years, as that period spanned the introduction of the church’s current child-protection system. The team includes Ranald Mair and Róisín McGoldrick, two members of the McLellan commission, a previous independent review commissioned by the Scottish Catholic Church.

Mr Mair is former chief executive of the Scottish body representing care homes, while Ms McGoldrick is a social work lecturer in Strathclyde University, Glasgow.

The report from that commission in 2015 heavily criticised how past complaints had been handled in the Scottish church and made several recommendations for reforms.

Structures and policies

The current review had been commissioned by the leadership of the church, the Irish Episcopal Conference and the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland.

It is expected to examine where current structures and policies could be improved. The team is seeking to conduct a survey of survivors between October 6th and November 6th.

Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin said monitoring and evaluating internal child-protection standards is “vitally important” to the church.

Dr Rachel Iredale, consulting director at RSM Ireland, said the company would approach the work “comprehensively and sensitively, but also with rigour and independence”.

Separately, Teresa Devlin, chief executive of the Church’s child-protection watchdog, is stepping down from the role after nearly 10 years.

The safeguarding board began the process of recruiting a new chief executive this week, with Ms Devlin to remain in situ until a replacement is appointed.

• Survivors who wish to speak to the team conducting the review of the child-protection standards in the Church can contact Survivor.Consultation@rsmireland.ie