Connell offers olive branch to victims

A PLANNED protest march by victims of clerical child sex abuse to demand the resignation of Catholic Cardinal Desmond Connell was called off last night after fresh assurances by the cardinal that he would do all he could to end the scourge of paedophile priests.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity with victims, Cardinal Connell invited two of their representatives to take a prominent role in influencing how his archdiocese handled the issue in future.

The olive branch was offered after a five-hour meeting between the cardinal, Bishop Eamonn Walsh and victims Marie Collins and Ken Reilly, who had planned to lead a silent march to the cardinal's Dublin residence this Sunday to insist that he resign over his failures adequately to deal with victims' concerns.

In another first for the cardinal, he issued a statement that the archdiocese was "co-operating fully" with the gardaí in their investigations into paedophile priests and the hierarchy's handling of the problem. In the past, the cardinal had said he was co-operating but used the absence of the word "fully" as a get-out clause when evidence was produced to the contrary.

He also indicated he would no longer use victims' fears about confidentiality and anonymity to avoid referring complaints to the gardaí. He said in such instances, while files would not leave the Church's possession, officers would be notified and allowed full access to inspect their contents. The meeting had been signalled to last only an hour and Cardinal Connell also broke with expected procedures by appearing briefly outside his residence afterwards to answer questions from waiting press.

He said for him the most important outcome of the meeting was that Mrs Collins and Mr Reilly would be taking an active role in the development of the archdiocese's new Child Protection Service due to be set up early next year.

In a joint statement, the two sides said they were committed to working together for the protection of children from clerical sex abuse, for the improvement of care for victims and for better communication with victims and the public at large.

Mrs Collins and Mr Reilly are to meet with David Kennedy, chairman of the advisory panel involved in the setting up of the Child Protection Service, in the next few weeks and, at their insistence, will begin a review of the controversial 1996 Church guidelines on reporting and handling clerical abuse.

Mr Reilly said the meeting was "a clear indication that the diocese have put their hand up once and for all and have said we need help and who better to help them than the victims".

Mrs Collins said time would tell whether all the promises were kept but she believed they would be. "I honestly feel that the cardinal has moved on. I did find he was willing to listen. He did show a willingness to learn and openness to change. It's a very, very hopeful sign," she said.