IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church
Overview of the Safeguarding Practice from 7th Tranche of Reviews conducted in the Religious Congregations of: The Augustinians; The Passionists: The Sacred Hearts Fathers of Jesus and Mary; The Discalced Carmelites (OCD); The Franciscan Friars; The Franciscan Brothers; The Servites; The Marist Fathers and The Dominican Sisters
And
The 2nd Tranche of small Female Congregations of:
Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary; Holy Faith Sisters; Holy Family of Bordeaux; Sisters of Charity of Nevers; Infant Jesus Sisters; Society of the Holy Child Jesus and the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy
February 10th 2015
Published today by the various congregations are 9 full inspection reports and a further 7 reports based on a tighter framework that reflects their lack of contact with children, age profile, absence of allegations relating to sexual abuse of children and size. The 9 longer reports cover 8 male religious orders and 1 female religious order, while the smaller reports focus on 7 female religious orders.
“In relation to the large reviews, I’m disappointed that, for the majority of Orders, the whole area of safeguarding is only being bedded down in the last couple of years,” said Teresa Devlin, CEO, NBSCCCI. “Of the 9 only 2 Orders have demonstrated good compliance with the standards, and have demonstrated their commitment to putting in place good safeguards for children as well as prompt responses to allegations of abuse. For the other 7 there is considerable work to be done.”
The inspection process revealed:
Poor record management in many cases making an assessment of practice difficult.
Opportunities to safeguard children were missed, known abusers allowed to remain in ministry in 1990’s.
Management plans relating to accused Priests and Brothers and sisters have improved significantly over time, though there is still room for improvement, in terms of clarity of roles, review of restrictions, and sharing of information.
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