Church agrees final document on child protection

27 Jan 2005

PRESS RELEASE

27TH JANUARY 2005

CHURCH AGREES FINAL DOCUMENT

ON CHILD PROTECTION

The Working Group on Child Protection held its final meeting today in Maynooth.
After the meeting, Chairperson Ms Maureen Lynott, said: “The members of the Group
today unanimously endorsed the final policy document on child protection, Our
Children Our Church
. This draft was previously agreed by the Sponsoring Bodies
and representatives of the Working Group (see press release 20 December 2004 on
www.catholiccommunications.ie).

Ms Lynott continued: “Members of the Working Group are satisfied that this document
is a significant advancement in child protection practice and that all outstanding
issues have now been resolved.

“I wish to thank most sincerely and gratefully the members of the Working Group
and the Church leaders for their efforts in bringing this document to finality,”
she said.

Ms Lynott concluded: “Implementation of the principles and policies of this document
will place the Catholic Church at the forefront of best practice – nationally and
internationally – regarding the protection and welfare of children. Great credit
is therefore due to all the participants involved in the development of this document.”

Further information:
Martin Long Director of Communications (086 172 7678)
Brenda Drumm Communications Officer (087 233 7797)
Maureen Lynott Chairperson Working Group on Child Protection (086 259 4910)

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Steering Group of the Working Group on Child Protection Policy represents
its three sponsoring bodies: the Irish Bishops’ Conference; the Conference of
Religious in Ireland and the Irish Missionary Union.
* The Working Group to develop a comprehensive child protection policy for the
Irish Catholic Church held its first meeting on 5 June 2003. Led by management
consultant Maureen Lynott, the Group was established by the Irish Bishops’
Conference, the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) and the Irish Missionary
Union (IMU). Members of the group included experts in education, health, child
protection, social work, law enforcement, victims’ rights representatives and
theologians.