Bishop Made Complaint about Nbsccc Official

RTE News
September 10, 2012

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0909/bishop-complained-about-child-protection-official.html

Ian Elliott was the subject of a complaints made by Bishop Noel Treanor

[with video]

One in Four Director Maeve Lewis has described as "staggering" revelations that the Bishop of Down and Connor made a complaint against the head of the National Council for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church.

In a statement, Bishop Noel Treanor said he accepted the findings of a report that found there was no basis for his complaint.

Ian Elliott is head of the Catholic Church's watchdog, which was set up to monitor and report on how child protection guidelines are being implemented.

But newspaper reports revealed that Mr Elliott was the subject of a complaint last year from a senior member of the Catholic hierarchy.

The Sunday Times reported that Bishop Treanor complained that Mr Elliott was engaging in spin against the church during media briefings.

Retired Supreme Court Judge Catherine McGuinness conducted an investigation, which concluded there was no basis for the complaint.

Bishop Treanor said the matter that arose was a procedural one, adding that he accepted the findings of the report and withdrew his assertion.

A spokesman for Mr Elliott said he would be making no comment on the matter at this time.

Ms Lewis described the revelations as insulting and staggering.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Ms Lewis said actions of the Bishop of Down and Connor were extremely insulting to Mr Elliot, whom she descrbed as a man of immense integrity.

But she said it gives an insight into Church culture, a church she said was unaccustomed to being held to account for its actions in the manner which the NBSCCCI was doing.