Introduction
Just before taking you through some of the themes of each section of the 
document, one of the key features of Our Children, Our Church I would 
particularly like to highlight this afternoon is the fact that it seeks 
to ensure a one-Church approach to the issue of child protection. As many 
of you will be aware, following the publication of Child Sexual Abuse: 
Framework for a Church Response in 1996, each Diocese and institute of 
Religious Life sought to implement the guidelines and to develop them 
in accordance with its own particular circumstances. This meant, for 
example, that until now there have been two Offices for Child Protection, 
one operated by CORI and one operated by the Irish Episcopal Conference. 
Under this new policy, the National Board will establish a single National 
Office for Child Protection to implement its policies and decisions. This 
of itself will bring a new level of coherence and consistency to the Church’s 
policy in this area and is an expression of the commitment of the different 
elements of the Church’s life and ministry to work collaboratively to ensure 
the safety and welfare of children within the Church. Throughout the document 
the fundamental Gospel Principles which should underpin the work of child 
protection and the response of the Church to child abuse are highlighted. 

The following is a brief overview of the contents of the new Church document:
Part 1: Principles and Structures
Part 2: Good Practice for the Safeguarding of Children
Part 3: Responding to Allegations and Suspicions of Child Abuse   

Part 1: Principles and Structures
* The guiding principles which inform good practice in child protection 
and the response of the Church to allegations of child abuse are dealt with.
* The obligation on everyone in the Church to create a secure and supportive 
atmosphere in which those who have suffered abuse can disclose this to a 
trusted person in the expectation of a sensitive, caring and compassionate 
response is stressed. 
* There is a commitment of the Catholic Church to 7 key principles.
* The various structures that will be put in place to ensure the effective 
operation of the policy are outlined. Bishop Colm O’Reilly will say more 
about this.

Part 2: Good practice for the safeguarding of children
This section sets out the key elements of: 
* Good practice which should be applied by all Church institutions and 
personnel working with children including guidelines for developing codes 
of behaviour, protocols for the use of computers and for organising retreats 
and trips abroad.  Much of this material had been published as part of the 
Church’s Good Practice Guidelines, published in 2003.
* Recruitment and Training of Volunteers. It reiterates the Church’s commitment 
to the practice of vetting where this facility is available and stresses the 
importance of training all Church personnel in child protection policies and 
procedures. Ms Kay Hyden will give a brief overview of some of the developments 
which have taken place in recent years in respect of the training of Church 
personnel.
* Selection and Formation of Candidates for Priesthood and Religious Life: 
it highlights the importance of training candidates in best practice in 
relation for working with children.

Part 3: Responding to allegations and suspicions of Child Abuse
The main points set out here, although developed and approved before the 
publication of the Ferns Report, anticipate and commit the Church to one 
of the Report’s key recommendations, namely, the need for an inter-agency 
approach to the handling of allegations and suspicions of child abuse. As 
the document points out, and the Ferns Report confirmed, ‘the exchange of 
information between all relevant agencies is a key element in safeguarding 
the welfare of children and in providing an appropriate response where 
child abuse occurs. Effective communication between Church organisations 
and the civil authorities is therefore essential.’ (p.38) In short, this 
policy does not envisage any circumstances in which the Church will respond 
to an allegation or suspicion of child abuse, where reasonable grounds for 
concern exist, without recourse to the civil authorities.

Child abuse is defined and the initial response and reporting procedures 
are outlined.

It highlights the role of the Director of Child Protection which will be 
explained in more detail by Bishop O’Reilly.

When an allegation or suspicion has been reported to the civil authorities, 
the document outlines;
* The actions to be taken by the Church organisation. 
* The canonical procedures to be followed once an allegation or suspicion 
of child abuse involving a priest or religious has been received by a bishop 
or religious superior. Critically, in terms of the recommendations of the 
Ferns Report, this chapter reiterates the principle of the welfare of the 
child as paramount and stresses that ‘care should be taken to ensure that 
any canonical procedure does not undermine a civil investigation’ (p.55)
* The various possible outcomes of civil investigations are named and it 
elaborates on the actions to be taken by Church organisations following 
the different outcomes. It stresses the responsibility of everyone in the 
Church community to take every possible step to restore the good name of 
the priest, religious or lay person who has been wrongly accused.  
* The issues which arise in relation to future risk where priests or religious 
are convicted of child abuse and subsequently released are addressed as well 
as those where there has been no conviction but reasonable grounds for 
continuing concern exist. This chapter stresses the importance of 
independent professional assessment and highlights the role of the 
Professional Practice Committee in advising bishops and religious superiors 
in the handling of such cases.

Promoting healing and reconciliation
Finally, the document returns to the principles of the Gospel which should 
underlie the Church’s response to the child abuse. It acknowledges the 
far-reaching and painful consequences that the abuse of a child can have.  
It sets out the kind of supports which should be set in place to assist all 
of those affected by an allegation of child abuse and the kind of steps which 
should be taken with a view to moving towards healing and reconciliation where 
it is possible. The members of the Church today are continuously called to 
continue this vital ministry of outreach and of healing and reconciliation. 

And now I would like to hand you over to Bishop Colm O’Reilly, Chair of the 
Sponsoring Bodies Steering Group, who will explain some of the details of the 
structures and processes which will characterise the new policy.

ends
19 December 2005