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Irish bishops back new effort to restore credibility after sex-abuse scandal January 23, 2009

At a special January 23 meeting, the Irish bishops' conference approved a new joint initiative to restore credibility after a damaging series of reports about the bishops' reactions to sex-abuse allegations. Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, whose diocese has been at the center of recent scandals, apologized to his colleagues as well as to victims of sexual abuse. The Irish bishops as a group conceded that "victims who have come forward, and those who are unable to do so for a variety of complex reasons, have once again had their wounds of abuse opened by Church failure." The bishops committed themselves to carry out fully the recommendations of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC), and to ask that body to review practices in each diocese.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said that he would join in approving the new norms only on the understanding that the religious superiors of priests working in his Dublin archdiocese would be held responsible for implementing the same policies.

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• Bishops hold special meeting on Safeguarding Children (Irish bishops' conference)

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