By Michael Kelly
Irish Catholic
January 6, 2011
http://www.irishcatholic.ie/site/content/some-church-stories-watch-2011
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Here are some stories that will be important for the Church in Ireland over the next 12 months. They are listed in no particular order of importance:
1. Cloyne Report:
The Catholic Church in Ireland has been reeling for more than 15 years now amid revelations of Church mishandling of abuse by priests and religious. 2011 will see more fallout from the crisis.
Firstly, there will be the report of the Murphy Commission into the handling of allegations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne. A previous inquiry by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) led to the resignation of Bishop John Magee after that report revealed Dr Magee has presided over inadequate child protection measures that the board labelled "dangerous".
The report is likely to detail some Church mishandling of allegations in Cloyne. It may also prove embarrassing for the former Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray (who resigned following the Murphy Report into the Dublin Diocese) as Limerick and Cloyne shared a child protection committee.
Crucially the report will also highlight gross State mismanagement of abuse including instances where the Gardaí were aware of abuse allegations for years before they decided to inform the civil authorities.
2. Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report into Dublin
Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report into handling of abuse in Dublin Diocese remains heavily redacted. The redacted parts refer to one individual and his brother. Judge Paul Gilligan said this redaction should remain in place until at least July 5, 2011 indicating that criminal proceedings may be pending.
3. HSE/NBSCCC audit of dioceses
The Health Service Executive (HSE) is expected to complete their audit of how dioceses around the country are implementing child safeguarding policies in either February or March.
The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) is conducting a similar audit though the timeframe is less clear.
4. Apostolic Visitation
The Vatican's inquiry - or Apostolic Visitation - into the Irish Church is continuing apace. Many of the 'visitors' are expected in Ireland in coming weeks to conduct meetings and interviews.
It's still unclear when the visitation will be finished but a full report to the Vatican is expected.
5. General Election
The General Election is likely to have an important impact on the concerns of faith-based voters. The Labour party has already expressed a great deal of hostility towards faith-based education and Fine Gael's Brian Hayes openly making soundings critical of the Church's role in education.
Labour has also proposed legislation on abortion and ruled out giving the people a chance to decide on the matter.
A FG-Labour coalition (the most-likely outcome of the election) will raise a lot of concerns.
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