Victims of clerical child sex abuse have requested representation on the Irish bishops' proposed independent examination of how complaints about the problem were dealt with by the Irish Catholic Church over recent decades.
They also requested that the so-called audit of how the cases were handled not be restricted to diocesan priests only, but that it include members of the religious orders and those teachers approved for national schools by local bishops.
They pointed out that under the 1927 Maynooth Statute No 387 a bishop must be consulted in all cases before a teacher in his diocese can be either appointed or removed.
The requests were made at meetings in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, yesterday involving Mr John Kelly and Mr Maurice Ward of SOCA (Survivors Of Child Abuse), Cardinal Desmond Connell, Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bishop Willie Walsh.
Mr Kelly said last night he had found all three bishops "very pleasant, very warm, open, and very sincere." He believed they had a genuine desire to deal with the issue, but they did not seem to know "how to get their heads around it". He suggested to them that the audit would be meaningless without input from victims and told them that victims might be able to help them through this crisis.
Victims are certainly willing to do so, he said. "We get no satisfaction out of seeing the church implode in this way," he said. SOCA is preparing a document which will form a basis for further discussion with Cardinal Connell. When it is complete, as has been agreed, they are to contact the cardinal about a meeting.
Drs Eamonn and Willie Walsh agreed to bring SOCA's suggestions to the other bishops at Maynooth yesterday, including Mr Kelly's recommendation that they "bang some of these bishops' heads together" and stop some saying they were not responsible for what went on in other dioceses or within religious orders.
The bishops' day-long meeting, which ended at about 7 p.m., was also attended by representatives of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) and the Irish Missionary Union (IMU). It was agreed in principle that the planned independent audit would be church-wide and would not deal only with diocesan clergy.
CORI and IMU representatives met in Dublin on Friday, when they agreed to propose to the bishops that they come on board such an audit. It was also agreed in principle that representatives of the bishops and the orders would form a group to oversee the implementation of this decision.
Representing CORI at yesterday's meeting were its secretary-general, Sister Elizabeth Maxwell; Brother Philip Mulhall, superior-general of the Patrician Brothers; Sister Helen Mary Harmey, regional provincial of the Dominican Sisters and a member of CORI's executive; and Father Paul Murphy, director of CORI's Child Protection Office. Father Tommy Murphy, president of the Irish Missionary Union, represented that group.
Also in attendance at the meeting was Ms Justice Gillian Hussey, recently appointed chairwoman of the bishops' child protection committee. Further internal meetings of bishops and representatives of the religious orders will take place in coming weeks to firm up audit terms of reference, personnel and timescale. And it is expected that another extraordinary meeting of the bishops will take place in coming weeks to finalise details.
It is expected that the bishops' response to the clerical child sex abuse crisis should be in place by their summer meeting on June 10th, 11th and 12th. Meanwhile it is understood that contact between the bishops and the Birmingham investigation into Ferns diocese has also been established.
