IRELAND
The Irish Times
ANDREW FAGAN
RITE & REASON: The courage of the abused is helping the church put preventative measures in place
MEASURES TAKEN by the church in Ireland to make it a safer place for children are showing their effect. The most recent publication of statistics by its Child Safeguarding and Protection Service show a marked decline in alleged child sexual abuse incidents by priests reported to the Archdiocese of Dublin from a peak in the 1980s.
This does not mean that the story of child abuse by priests can be laid aside as history. We all need constant reminding of the devastation caused by the abuse of hundreds of children by a small but by no means insignificant number of priests in Dublin over many years. Sadly, a number of them were serial child abusers who wreaked havoc and destroyed the lives of children and families – havoc and hurt compounded by the stunning failure to address these crimes.
Over the past two decades, since revelations of child abuse by priests came into the public domain, the archdiocese, together with other dioceses and religious congregations, has persisted in implementing quality programmes of child safeguarding.
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