Full co-operation of Dublin Diocese

Archbishop says Commission of Investigation will have full co-operation of Dublin Diocese

May we refer to the article ?Artane bullies hid behind the Church? by Joe Giltrap in the Irish Post dated 29th August 2007 particularly to his comment ?I suppose Archbishop Diarmuid Martin deserves some credit for releasing the report but even in 2007 I suspect that there are still those within the Church and the government who wish it had stayed well and truly buried?.

We believe that if it wasn?t for the absolute determination of Jim Beresford in relation to his letters to Archbishop Dr Diarmuid Martin and to the Ryan Commission and for the unspecified number of lawyers acting for abused people who filed for discovery of the Fr Henry Moore 1962 Report it would have stayed well and truly buried within the Ryan Commission.

In addition to the above mentioned pressures on Archbishop Dr Diarmuid Martin he then had to release the Fr Henry Moore 1962 Report because on the 8th November 2005 he said the Commission of Investigation announced by the Minister for Justice into how complaints of child sexual abuse against clergy of the Diocese were handled will have the full co-operation of the Dublin Diocese.

He re-iterated a pledge made many times in the past that the Diocese will co-operate fully with the Commission. ?As I have said before, it is vitally important that the truth of what happened regarding abuse of children by priests is brought to light.

We can only begin to fully address the issue of child abuse when we establish what happened in the past.

Horrendous damage was done to people, compounded by inadequate responses. ?He said he hoped the work being done in the Diocese over the past number of years in this area and the setting up of the Commission will help establish the truth.

In 2004 an independent child protection consultant was appointed to examine all files at Archbishops house so as to ensure that all complaints have been identified and that all relevant information would be readily available.

The Diocese has co-operated with Garda investigations into complaints of child abuse by priests of the diocese.

It has made available to the Gardai copies of over 22,000 documents to assist them in their work.

As part of his ongoing focus on this area and following the publication of the Ferns report, Archbishop Martin wrote to all priests in the Diocese asking them to consult with the laity as to how the Diocese can improve on existing child protection structures.

Priests have been asked to convene special meetings of Parish Pastoral Councils this month to study the recommendations of the report and propose concrete ideas as to how the Diocese can provide better protection for children.

It is planned to have similar meetings with the Boards of Management of Dublin schools.

The matter is to be added to the agenda of upcoming Deanery meetings and the next session of the Priests Council.

The Diocesan Women?s Forum is also to be consulted.

The Archbishop repeated his appeal to anyone who has been abused by a priest to come forward to the diocese, the statutory authorities or any organisation they feel comfortable dealing with.

Albert King on behalf of Mary King. (victim of institutional child abuse).