” “The primate of the Irish Church, archbishop Sean Brady, announced today that the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland gathered in Maynooth for the General Assembly have volunteered to shed light on the suspected cases of paedophilia brought against priests and religious men. Since 2005, when the document "Our Children: Our Church" was published, the Catholic Church has been working to this end, helping the Social Service Department, the police and other organisations dealing with child care and protection. According to figures announced today by the Irish Bishops Conference, since 1965, out of 2,000 diocesan priests, 47 "unsubstantiated charges" of sexual abuse on children have been brought against priests. As to religious men (3,200), 34 have been charged with the same crime. "The wellbeing and protection of children and vulnerable adults said archbishop Brady are a priority for the Catholic Church in Ireland". As well as saying that the bishops are most willing to help shed light on the matter, the archbishop recalled that "many parishes" have already begun to cooperate: 40 of them have even set up children protection committees. Finally, archbishop Brady announced that the Church will promote a workshop in Belfast about child protection and care for victims of abuse.” “
