Almost 7,000 survivors of clerical abuse avail of Catholic Church-funded counselling 

The service is funded by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland. 

Up to 7,000 survivors of institutional, clerical, and religious abuse and members of their families have availed of counselling services paid for by the Catholic Church.

Over the past 25 years, Towards Healing and its previous iteration, Faoiseamh, has provided free counselling, workshops and restorative justice meetings, said Bishop Michael Router, an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh and director of Towards Healing. He said that the counselling is provided by lay, independent, and fully accredited therapists.