Volunteers across Ireland have made parishes safer for children than anywhere else, Brandon Scott and Chai Brady hear
Safeguarding officers 2024 (paid and voluntary)
293
In all 26 dioceses
339
In religious congregations
632
In total
Safeguarding training 2014-2024
308
Separate safeguarding training events
6,857
Attendees
The last month has formed part of another distressing chapter in the history of the Church on this island following the largescale abuse allegations discovered in the Government’s scoping report into religious-run schools.
Emotions are understandably high. Some politicians are demanding that religious orders help foot the bill for any future redress scheme, others want the Church entirely removed from education – no exceptions. Some Catholic leaders in the country are asserting that no Church reform can take place until the abuse crisis has been conclusively dealt with, something that, according to them, has not been fully done yet.
Safeguarding
It’s easy to dwell on the things that disenchant, particularly when they’re being so relentlessly examined and other key perspectives overlooked. But there are positives and those presently involved in Church safeguarding will proudly herald these as being the fruits of a determination to ensure that the failings of the past are never replicated again.
Deacon Frank Browne and Aidan Gordon are two people who know the realities when it comes to the Church’s relationship with child protection over the last number of decades. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, the deacon in Ballyroan Parish, who is also a member of the Archdiocese of Dublin’s Safeguarding Committee and Mr Gordon, the newly-installed CEO of the Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children, described the Church as being “a very safe place for children at the moment”, and that the constant attacks undermine the excellent work that has been done by dedicated volunteers.
Deacon Browne first highlighted the practical steps taken by parishes, steps that have fostered a culture of vigilance and accountability in the context of safeguarding in the Church. “The key is that every parish has a safeguarding officer who’s basically a parishioner who does the training and ensures that the policy and safeguarding requirements are happening in the parish,” he said.
“So, for example, anybody who is in our sacristy must sign a sign-in book so you know who was there on whatever day. That safeguarding book is a mandatory requirement. Any cleric and anybody who is delivering a programme or activity to children without their parents present has to be Garda vetted.
Safeguarding in the Church usually revolved around the safety and welfare of children, but as Deacon Browne explains, the meaning has been recently expanded”
“There are training sessions for all volunteers. Parish pastoral councils are looking at the pastoral planning of the church. What we want people to say is, this is their name, this is their address and that they have never had a criminal record against them. Any volunteer, even though they mightn’t be actively working with kids, is asked to complete a volunteer form.”
Traditionally safeguarding in the Church revolved around the safety and welfare of children, but as Deacon Browne explains, the meaning has been recently expanded to include other vulnerable categories of people, including the elderly.
“On our parish pastoral council’s agenda, the standing item is safeguarding and what’s really good to see, and it’s close to my heart as well, it’s no longer just about safeguarding children, it’s safeguarding children and vulnerable adults,” he said. “What that means is that we don’t have volunteers that we don’t know befriending elderly people. They have to fill-in a volunteer information form. We don’t have individuals visiting people they don’t know, they go in twos.”
Safety
The level of hostility from the media since the Scoping Inquiry has been “very unfair” to the people who have dedicated themselves to creating an effective culture of child protection in the Church, a culture that Deacon Browne believes has contributed to churches being “the safest place for children in terms of organisation”.
“It is very unfair to all of us that work in safeguarding, because we know that children are more likely to be abused in the home,” he said. “The reality is that the safest place for children in terms of organisation is actually the Catholic Church parishes. They’re the safest places because anybody who is directly working with children has been recently vetted within the last three years. Everybody who volunteers has done the safeguarding course.
All the priests currently in ministry (in our diocese) have no allegations against them”
“There hasn’t been an allegation against a priest actively in the archdiocese for a long, long time. In certain sections of the media, there’s an approach of guilty until proven innocent and there’s a lack of impartiality.”
Admitting that the constant barrage of negative media reports and public discourse can be “demoralising” if you don’t know the truths on the ground, Deacon Browne said that those in ministry in the diocese have no allegations against them and therefore have nothing to answer for. So while sympathy should always be given to those who suffered abuse at the hands of the Church, balance is also essential.
“It can be demoralising but it’s really not if you can stand back and look at the facts and the facts are this is historic and not really beyond 1982-ish,” he said. “So all the priests currently in ministry have no allegations against them. All those working in parishes, volunteers, young catechists have nothing to answer for whatsoever and our current bishops have not been the bishops who gave poor leadership.
Highlighting
“So there is nobody active in ministry in our diocese that has any apology to make for their actions. Yes, we do need to sympathise with the historic past but this is the reality and it’s about balance. I work in the HSE and helped out in local sports clubs and I can safely say the Church has the best child protection procedures. Your children are safer in a Catholic parish than they are anywhere else,” Deacon Browne said.
“So we have no apologies to make for today but we can respect and acknowledge the pain and make sure we never take our foot off of the pedal in terms of child protection and the protection of vulnerable adults.”
Deacon Browne believes the best way to tackle the one-sided coverage in the media and highlight the truth is for the leaders in the Church to articulate the successes of the transformational reforms that have taken place across all of Ireland’s dioceses and to not let the safeguarding successes be clouded by “opportunistic attacks”.
“We need our bishops and others in leadership roles to speak up for the truth which is that we have a very safe Church and wonderfully dedicated men and women who give up their lives because we have a really good message and it will not be clouded by opportunistic attacks on the current parishes that are doing their best to protect children and vulnerable adults,” he said.
The new CEO of the NBSCCCI, Aidan Gordon is a qualified social worker with over 30 years’ experience in safeguarding practice and management, and from 2015-2024 was the Director of Safeguarding in the Archdiocese of Armagh.
Looking at the engagement of dioceses and parishes with safeguarding policies, he said: “In my view, and indeed the view of Dr Helen Buckley in her report to the Scoping Inquiry, they are engaging very well.
Everyone who has any ministry with children is appropriately vetted and trained for their role and they also conduct an annual self-audit”
“For example, every diocese has in place dedicated safeguarding staff supported by a committee and assisted in every parish by volunteer safeguarding representatives. The commitment of the entire Catholic Church in Ireland to child safeguarding, both diocese and congregations, is reflected in the numbers that attend our training.”
Lay volunteers are “absolutely key” to the delivery of robust safeguarding practices, Mr Gordon continued, saying that “at the end of the day it is not a policy or a procedure that ensures children are safe, but the volunteers in each parish in Ireland who ensure that we implement and adhere to that policy and procedure”.
“Our volunteers make sure that everyone who has any ministry with children is appropriately vetted and trained for their role and they also conduct an annual self-audit to ensure there is no complacency setting in.”
Inquiry
Looking at the Government’s scoping inquiry into allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders, Mr Gordon was asked how reports such as these might affect those working in safeguarding in the Catholic Church. He said: “It is always difficult to hear that children have suffered such horrific abuses from those who should have been upholding the Gospel value of treasuring them. There is a sense that those who committed such abuses have betrayed not only themselves, but also those of us who believe that our faith should ensure that children are always safe when they are involved in any Church activity. Our role is to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent it happening again and to provide support and help to those who were the victims of abuse.”
In my view the Catholic Church in Ireland is a very safe place for children at the moment”
Mr Gordon said people must be grateful to Irish media for the fact that much of the abuse which was perpetrated would not have come to light if it hadn’t been for “their persistence and willingness to listen to victims and survivors who had no other opportunity to tell their stories”.
“That in itself has been extremely helpful to those of us who work in safeguarding in the Church,” he said.
However, regarding the safety of children in Church-related settings nowadays, Mr Gordon said: “In my view the Catholic Church in Ireland is a very safe place for children at the moment. However, we can’t afford to be complacent or let down our guard. Our experience tells us that those who wish to harm children will take advantage of any opportunity or small gap in safeguarding procedures to gain access to their intended victims, and so we must maintain the highest level of vigilance.”
Policy
The NBSCCCI are continuing to update their policies, keeping up with changes in legislation, Canon Law and safeguarding practice and guidance – this can be seen in their three standards outlined in the latest policy ‘A Safe and Welcoming Church’: a further development of the previous seven standards (2016).
Mr Gordon explained: “They [2024 standards] retain the requirement to report all allegations of child abuse to the appropriate statutory authorities in line with legislation while emphasising the role of the Church leader (bishop or provincial) in ensuring the highest standards are implemented within their organisation. The revised policy also places significant emphasis on support for those who make complaints about abuse they suffered from Church personnel.”
Overview report of Ireland’s 26 dioceses from 2018-2023 (2016 Standards)
The quality of the Church in Ireland’s safeguarding structures and culture has “greatly improved” in the last 10 years according to the most recent and comprehensive overview report of Ireland’s 26 dioceses.
“A lot of progress has been made, and plans are in place to advance this further,” the February 2024 report from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) stated.
The safeguarding policies of all 26 dioceses were reviewed between 2018 and 2023, measuring their progress according to the seven 2016 safeguarding standards and also the recommendations made during the previous round of reviews held almost a decade ago.
Of the 210 recommendations made to dioceses to improve safeguarding procedures, 202 were implemented.
Some eight dioceses did not meet all standards, but the board said this “need not be a cause of disappointment or criticism” so long as feedback provided to bishops is taken on board and the required changes, mostly quite small, are implemented.
“It would be unrealistic to expect that every diocese would ‘score’ 100% in such an external audit.”
Volunteers, lay staff and Church personnel take their responsibilities seriously, the NBSCCCI said, so that children can participate in Church ministries and activities, knowing that there are adults that they can go to if they are worried or concerned.
“The children, with whom the reviewers engaged, reflected very eloquently their feelings of warmth about and safety in Church life,” the board wrote in the report.
The opportunity to engage with children and youth groups provided “a very important new perspective for reviewers”, the report said.
Where possible, the reviewers also spoke with parents of participating children and young people, and with group activity leaders. “It was clear that parents are satisfied that their children are safe when engaged in Church ministries and activities, and many shared that they have become more involved themselves as volunteers to support safeguarding at parish level.”
The management of cases of abuse has improved, with “better processes, better record keeping and greater understanding of the need for fair and just responses”, the board reported.
The 2016 standards have since been updated. The three standards in the latest 2024 policy ‘A Safe and Welcoming Church’ are a further development of the previous seven standards which reflect changes in legislation, Canon Law and safeguarding practice and guidance.