The president of Cura, Bishop John Fleming, has appealed to members for their patience as the crisis which led to the sacking of four of its volunteers last year is addressed.
Cura is the Church agency set up by the bishops in 1977 to assist women dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. Its annual conference took place in Tipperary at the weekend.
Last June the bishops asked Cura to stop supplying the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) Positive Options leaflet "for the moment", as it gave details of agencies which supply abortion information.
It followed a controversy which led the Cura national executive council (NEC) to dismiss four volunteers at its Letterkenny centre when they raised concerns about abortion information available from agencies listed in the leaflet.
Cura receives €654,000 fund- ing annually from the CPA, more than any other agency. As part of its "service level agreement" with the CPA, which continues to the end of this year, Cura is expected to make available the Positive Options leaflet to women seeking help. Since June Cura has been referring women seeking information on abortion to their GPs.
Bishop Fleming told the weekend conference a process was in place "where all the aspects of the leaflet are currently being examined and a decision will emerge in due time. However, time is needed to examine this issue fully and properly and I ask for your continued patience in this regard."
He said "numerous meetings between representative groups from the Bishops' conference and the NEC have taken place. We have been involved in dialogue with the CPA and we are at an advanced stage in terms of clarifying and addressing the issues of concern."
He said he was "confident that, supported by a continuation of the goodwill experienced so far by all sides, we can achieve a resolution of this."
He pointed out that "moral guidance in relation to the work of Cura is the responsibility of the Bishops' conference. The guidance and support of the bishops, as teachers and guardians of the ethos of Cura, is valued and respected. Cura, as an agency of the Bishops' conference, has always been and continues to be, faithful to its direction and loyal to its guidance."
During 2005 Cura received 9,000 phone calls and 3,382 people visited its 16 centres throughout Ireland.
