Martin orders review of child protection rules

LEADERS OF all the religious orders working in the Archdiocese of Dublin have been told to review their application of child protection rules.

In a highly critical response to the findings of the latest tranche of audits by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said it was “appalling” to read about the delays of some congregations in fully implementing church safeguarding guidelines.

In all, 16 religious congregations were audited. The reviews concentrated on eight male and one female congregation. The board’s inspection found it difficult to assess some orders because of poor management of records, and the reviews also revealed that opportunities to safeguard children were missed and abusers were allowed to remain in ministry into the 1990s.

According to Teresa Devlin, the board’s chief executive, only two of the nine religious orders audited, the Sacred Heart Fathers and the Dominican Sisters, demonstrated good compliance with safeguarding standards and good management of those accused of abuse.