Pope John Paul, To meet US Cardinals
Representatives of the State's 13,000 order priests, brothers and nuns have agreed in principle to take part in the Hierarchy's independent review of sexual abuse inside the church. The terms of the inquiry will not be finalised for weeks.
The General Secretary of the Conference of Religious of Ireland has said her organisation agrees in principle with the Bishops' 'One Church Review' of the abuse issue.
Sister Elizabeth Maxwell spent over an hour with Ireland's Bishops this afternoon discussing a proposed independent audit of the handling of child sexual abuse by the Church in the past.
Sr Maxwell said she believed all her members will co-operate with the terms of the review when they are published. She said she did not believe there would be any problem handing over files to the Bishops' inquiry where they related to child sexual abuse.
On the question of the time required to co-operate with this proposed enquiry as well as the State-backed Laffoy Commission, she said time could be an imposition but she believed religious congregations and orders would fully co-operate with the Bishops' review for the sake of the common good.
Members of the Catholic Hierarchy were meeting at St Patrick College in Maynooth to develop plans to deal with the Church's handling of clerical sex abuse.
Victims of abuse told the Hierarchy they are concerned that members of religious orders will not be investigated by the Bishops' recently announced independent audit.
Religious priests, brothers and nuns are understood to be anxious to cooperate with the audit where they feel it is relevant. A spokesperson said the time and energy available to them was limited and they would wish that they did not have to undergo another investigation on top of the Laffoy Commission, as they want to devote that time and energy to other pastoral needs.
A spokesperson for the Bishops said the issues involved in the audit were complex, and while it had been hoped to work out all the details by now, it was going to take a little bit longer. He said a final package would be agreed at another meeting in the near future.
The Maynooth meeting comes on the same day that American cardinals have been arriving in Rome, for their special meeting which begins tomorrow, to discuss the child sex abuse crisis which has affected the Catholic Church in the United States. They will meet senior Vatican officials, ahead of a conference in June to draw up new guidelines on dealing with abuse.
All thirteen US cardinals have been summoned to the meeting. Among those arriving today was Cardinal Bernard Law, who as Archbishop of Boston has come under pressure to resign over his handling of paedophile priests.
