“We wish children to feel that they are always treated by the Church with the dignity, respect and attention they deserve. That’s why the well-being of the child is paramount in every decision or action taken in response to suspicions of child abuse”, declared Sean Brady, bishop of Armagh and President of the Irish Bishops’ Conference during a press conference held in Dublin in recent days to present the new policies adopted by the Catholic Church of Ireland aimed at the protection of children, contained in a document with the title “Our Children, Our Church”. A key factor for the implementation of the measures indicated in the document – continued Brady is the creation of a committee of experts in pedagogical science, psychology, theology, law, education and business. It will have the task of controlling that the policies and procedures indicated by the Church in ‘Our Children, our Church’ be implemented, monitored and made public”. The chairman of the committee is the former procurator general and judge of the Irish Supreme Court, Anthony Hederman. “The national committee added Sister Evelyn Greene, representative of the Conference of Religious of Ireland will establish a national office for the protection of children. This will lead by itself to a new level of coherence within the policies of the Church on the matter, and will be the expression of the pledge of the various parts of the Church to work together to ensure the safety and well-being of children within the Church”. “For reasons of coherence and transparency observed the bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Colm O’ Reilly it’s important that the national committee should publish national statistics containing the data on child abuse perpetrated by personnel of the Church”. “In practice, ‘Our Children, Our Church’ – he concluded guarantees that the decision on how to proceed in response to a denunciation or a suspicion of abuse is not up to the bishop or to the superior of a congregation, but to an expert”.
