IRELAND
The Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE IRISH province of the Spiritans (Holy Ghost Fathers) congregation will be the first Catholic male religious order internationally to undergo an audit to establish “the reality of the sexual abuse of children and minors by clergy, religious or church workers”.
The audit, at the Spiritans’ own request, was announced on its website ( spiritans.ie) yesterday and will be conducted by the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding of Children. It will take place in May.
The Spiritans manage some of the best-known schools in Dublin, at Willow Park, Blackrock College, St Michael’s College, St Mary’s College, Templeogue College and Rockwell College in Co Tipperary.
The congregation said it believed “only a public audit of the reality of abuse committed by Spiritans can free the congregation to carry out its mission of service among God’s people. That mission includes the congregation’s outreach to those who were abused.”
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