By Alison Healy
The Irish Times
December 21, 2008
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1222/1229728441568.html
THE REPORT on serious allegations of abuse in the diocese of Cloyne must raise fears that other dioceses are not meeting their child safety obligations, the lay Catholic organisation Voice of the Faithful has said.
The organisation called "urgently" for the publication of the results of audits of child protection provision in all Irish dioceses.
Voice of the Faithful, which began in the US in response to clerical sex abuse scandals, describes itself as a grouping of "the people in the pews".
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On Friday, the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, apologised to victims of clerical abuse after an independent report found that his diocese had put children at risk of harm because of its inability to respond appropriately to abuse allegations.
The report from the National Board for Safeguarding Children said: "Put simply, the responses of the diocese could be described as ill-advised, and too little, too late."
The Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, has come in for criticism for failing to take action since the completion of the report during the summer and for failing to publish a Health Service Executive report on the matter.
Yesterday his spokeswoman said he had no comment on the call for his resignation. She said he was awaiting legal advice before publishing the HSE report.
On Saturday, Mr Andrews described child protection reporting procedures as "quite robust". He said he intended to publish the HSE report "at the earliest possible date".
Voice of the Faithful said Dr Magee's actions made him "wholly incompetent to discharge his apostolic and pastoral role of safeguarding their children. We therefore call upon him to resign this office immediately."
The group called on Pope Benedict XVI to request the resignation of Dr Magee if he refused to go, and to investigate and explain to the parents of Catholic children why so many bishops all over the world had failed their people in the same way.
"Three years after the Ferns report in 2005, an Irish bishop had failed to ensure that the safety of the children of his diocese was paramount in the minds of all those answerable to him for the safety of Catholic children," the statement said.
"Other children were thereby still being endangered at this late date - despite the guidelines supposedly adopted by all Irish bishops in the wake of the Ferns report."
Sean O Conaill, acting co-ordinator of Voice of the Faithful (Ireland) said it was not enough for another bishop to resign.
"We must be sure that the next bishop of Cloyne, and every other bishop in the church, truly puts the needs of children before clergy.
"Otherwise the horrific pain of abuse, and the disgracing of our church by too many of its bishops, will surely continue."
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