Sunday, June 03, 2012

Watchdog works with those abused by priests as children to prevent recurrence

http://csps.dublindiocese.ie/wp-content/themes/editorial/images/csps-logo.jpgRITE & REASON: The courage of the abused is helping the church put preventative measures in place.

MEASURES TAKEN by the church in Ireland to make it a safer place for children are showing their effect. 

The most recent publication of statistics by its Child Safeguarding and Protection Service show a marked decline in alleged child sexual abuse incidents by priests reported to the Archdiocese of Dublin from a peak in the 1980s.

This does not mean that the story of child abuse by priests can be laid aside as history. We all need constant reminding of the devastation caused by the abuse of hundreds of children by a small but by no means insignificant number of priests in Dublin over many years. 

Sadly, a number of them were serial child abusers who wreaked havoc and destroyed the lives of children and families – havoc and hurt compounded by the stunning failure to address these crimes.

Over the past two decades, since revelations of child abuse by priests came into the public domain, the archdiocese, together with other dioceses and religious congregations, has persisted in implementing quality programmes of child safeguarding.

These have been greatly enhanced by the evolving safeguarding guidelines and the training programmes of the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Our service deals mainly with adults who report abuse from their childhoods. Of the 98 priests against whom allegations of abuse have been made since the 1940s, very few have faced claims of incidents since 2000.

All child-protection concerns (allegations and suspicions of child abuse) received by the diocese are reported to the Garda and the Health Service Executive. The diocese works closely with the authorities in the assessment, investigation and management of these cases, in compliance with State and church guidelines.

Compliance with guidelines is important but, of itself, is not sufficient to produce the desired outcome: the safety and protection of children. That requires people to assume personal responsibility for protecting children.

In the Archdiocese of Dublin we have about 600 safeguarding representatives in our parishes and, over the past year, we delivered training and information sessions to nearly 1,000 priests, parish workers and volunteers.

Giving people defined roles in parishes and agencies and delivering training to them inducts each into assuming responsibility for the safety and welfare of children involved in church activities.

Priests, workers and volunteers working in our parishes and diocesan agencies have access to professional advice and support from the Child Safeguarding and Protection Service and they know they can take their concerns directly to the Garda and HSE.

The key message is that the safety and welfare of each child is “my responsibility”. 

People may be daunted about what to do if faced with the possibility of knowing a child or an adult who has suffered abuse, but with training they know who to ask and when.

The archdiocese has a monitoring service for priests out of ministry who are under investigation or against whom substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse have been made, even if these allegations did not result in a criminal prosecution.

We cannot guarantee that priests who have offended will never offend again but we put in place measures to minimise the risk of this happening.

This service, with all its limits, offers a greater measure of protection for children than applies for most non-clerical sex offenders living in the community. Much more needs to be done by State authorities here.

The diocese also provides a service to adults who tell us of the abuse they suffered as children.

We endeavour to provide a pastoral response to those who come forward, to give access to appropriate services and to help heal any brokenness in their relationship with the church.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin meets personally with victims of abuse.

A constant in what we hear is survivors’ determination no child should experience the pain and trauma they went through. It is due, in no small part, to the courage of those who spoke out about experiences of child abuse by priests that the church has, at times belatedly, put in place measures to prevent recurrence.

I hope that, in reporting on progress made and reassuring that we constantly strive to improve, we will bring some measure of comfort and vindication to those who suffered such terrible wrongs.

Andrew Fagan is director of the Child Safeguarding and Protection Service of the Archdiocese of Dublin