Far reaching changes have been announced by the trustees of the national seminary in Maynooth, Ireland, aimed at tackling disquiet over “an unhealthy atmosphere”, allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour and concerns about an inadequate complaints procedure.
On Wednesday, St Patrick’s College announced that 14 new seminarians begin their training for the priesthood this week. However, the trustees of the college held a special meeting in Maynooth on Tuesday to discuss the crisis which engulfed the seminary earlier this month.
The storm erupted amid claims that seminarians were using the gay dating app Grindr and led to an announcement by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin that he was sending his seminarians to study at the Irish College in Rome.
In their statement the archbishops and bishops who act as trustees of Maynooth announced that the seminary authorities have been requested to evaluate and review policies regarding the appropriate use of the internet and social media.
They have also asked the Irish Bishops’ Conference to commission an independent audit and report of governance and statutes in Irish seminaries.
In tandem with this, the bishops have been asked to “urgently” develop a uniform national policy for admissions to Irish seminaries while all prospective candidates applying to become seminarians will in future be required to undertake a pre-seminary year.
“There is no place in a seminary community for any sort of behaviour or attitude which contradicts the teaching and example of Jesus Christ,” the trustees stated.
They said they shared concerns about “the unhealthy atmosphere created by anonymous accusations” but said some social media comments had been “speculative or even malicious”.
On the issue of whistle-blowing, an issue of particular concern to some seminarians, who claimed they had been intimidated into silence, Maynooth’s trustees said a review of current policies and procedures for reporting complaints with a view to adopting best practice and procedures for ‘protected disclosures’ (whistle-blowing) would be carried out.
However, they said they were satisfied that seminarians are not asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Another significant development will see the establishment of a subcommittee to examine the pastoral needs of priestly training in contemporary Ireland.
This subcommittee will involve lay people, families and “especially the presence of women” in priestly formation.
A triennial review of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, will be carried out in the Spring of 2017.
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