Cardinal ‘would comply’ with statutory tribunal

SURVIVORS of clerical abuse say the Primate of All-Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Seán Brady, told them he would comply with a statutory tribunal into the Church’s handling of clerical sex abuse complaints, if such a body was to be established.

The Survivors of Clerical Sex Abuse (SOCA) group, Marie Collins, Michael O’Brien of Right to Peace and Christopher Heaphy of Right of Place met individually with the archbishop yesterday.

Last night a spokesman for the cardinal confirmed that he would comply with a tribunal or whatever was deemed “best practice in the area of child protection”, but that the Church’s preferred route was for the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSC) to work with statutory authorities to ensure current practices were of the highest standard.