(This is a brief summary of the full document 'Towards Healing', published by the Irish conference of bishops as a Lenten Reflection in February 2005.)
 
As Christians we all have a duty to understand, and to care for, those who have been abused as children. This includes those who have been abused by Catholic clergy.

'Anything that could allow child abuse to happen and to be hidden has to be addressed and corrected.' Children must be warmly welcome, and safe, in the church.

Things the bishops have learned:

• that it can be very difficult to believe that someone we know is guilty of child abuse

• that there is a need for vigilance

• that we should not allow this need to develop into mistrust

• that a perceived need to deal with such occurrences discreetly and secretly can be counter-productive

• that it is difficult to reconcile the principle of the paramountcy of the safety of children with the need to preserve the good name of someone against whom nothing has been proven

• that the obsessive and compulsive nature of the disorder that leads to child abuse made it unwise to reassign abusive clergy

• that what should happen to abusers in the long term - to keep children safe - is deeply problematic

• that 'standing aside' for the length of time that may be necessary for court proceedings etc can seriously affect those accused who are innocent

• that the screening of candidates for the priesthood is important but not easy

• that there is a particular problem in cases where a criminal prosecution cannot be sustained and the truth of allegations cannot be finally established. How in those circumstances should the accused person be dealt with in the longer term?

Healing

Abuse affects people who have not themselves been abused - e.g. the families of the victim and colleagues of the accused - and the wider church community in the case of clerical abuse.

Victims want healing and closure. They have needs - e.g. for long-term companionship, counselling, remedial education etc - that the whole church should seek to meet. This support needs to be disentangled from any legal process.

Ideally every diocese should be able to call upon a pool of people who could help in any way.
Easter carries the promise of hope and healing for all who have been affected.

The Bishops' challenge to the wider Church

"It is a duty on all of us to help people who have suffered abuse to see the face of Jesus in the life of the Christian community. That means that we all need to learn more about the anguish and harm that child abuse causes and about the need for healing in so many lives. We need to make our communities ones in which the journey towards peace and wholeness can be made..."

"There are many resources in the community of the Church - spiritual direction, counselling, educational skill, financial know-how, medical and psychiatric expertise, artistic talent - the list could go on. To people with these skills - and with many others - we say, 'Would you consider putting these at the service of the journey towards the many dimensions of healing that are needed to address the great harm done to those who have suffered child abuse?'"

"It would be a practical and realistic step towards healing if each diocese could call on a pool of people who would be willing to help someone along the road towards putting their life together and, perhaps, towards finding their way back to the Church and to our loving God.
 

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Our Goals

2. To support priests of integrity

3.To shape structural change within the Catholic Church.

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