True extent of paedophilia in the Church emerging

A DETAILED picture of the true extent of paedophilia in the Catholic Church in Ireland is emerging for the first time, with records showing almost 250 priests have been accused of child sex abuse and over 60 religious have been convicted.

Information about accused clerics, released by the dioceses, stretches back over several decades, while data on those with criminal convictions were collected separately by the Irish Examiner and relate almost exclusively to the past 10 years.

At least €9 million has been paid out in compensation to victims of clerical abuse but several dioceses have multiple civil actions outstanding, meaning the ultimate cost will be higher.

The figures, which only cover known cases, are compiled as the Church prepares to apologise to its followers at Mass services this weekend in the wake of the publication of the damning Ferns Report.

Acting Bishop of Ferns, Eamonn Walsh, has issued a pastoral letter to be read out at all Masses in the diocese, while bishops in the other 25 dioceses have written to their priests to outline how the issues raised by the Ferns Report should be addressed during sermons.

Further details were also released about the Church’s new National Board for Child Protection, announced as a response to the report. A national director is to be appointed in the next two weeks and given a team of child welfare workers to assist in strengthening child protection policies.

Each diocese will have its own lay child protection officer to handle complaints and suspicions of abuse, run training programmes and compile statistics annually.

Describing the plan, Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady, said: “.Its aim is to ensure that every church place where children go is a safe place for them to be.”

The archbishop said the Church was “ready to work with Government agencies” on child protection but

Justice Minister Michael McDowell signalled the Government was not yet ready to fully trust the Church’s efforts.

Mr McDowell said a letter had been sent seeking details from all dioceses about their handling of complaints, but he warned this would be followed up by close checks.

Meanwhile, Minister for Children Brian Lenihan said details for an inquiry into the Dublin Archdiocese would be set out within the next fortnight but no decision would be taken until later about extending its remit countrywide.

As the fallout from the Ferns Inquiry continued last night, dioceses began bowing to pressure to release definitive details of child sex abuse complaints against their priests. Twenty-four of the 26 dioceses provided complete figures which showed there were records of accusations against a total of 247 priests.