LAST UPDATE | 5 Sep

A CATHOLIC BISHOP has offered an apology to survivors of sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders.

Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has described the report of the scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in school as “not easy reading by any means”. 

The inquiry found almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse of children in schools run by religious orders, a report published this week revealed.

The allegations span a total of 308 schools run by 42 religious orders and 844 alleged abusers.

“It is not easy reading by any means, but I am conscious that, behind every paragraph is the experience of real people who, as children, suffered abuse and violence in a place where they should have been safe,” Doran said.

In a statement this afternoon, the bishop said that the survivors “have the right to tell their story”.

“The tragedy of the report is not simply that there are so many of them, but that so many of them had to carry their experience alone for so many years, before they felt sufficiently free to tell someone else.”

He said that “while the report relates specifically to Religious-run schools, it would be naive in the extreme to suggest that child abuse was not also a reality in other schools, whether Catholic or of any other tradition”.

“Sadly, sexual abuse, has been endemic in our society. Both the Dioceses of Achonry and Elphin supported the work of the Scoping Inquiry, and we will certainly respond to any further enquiry that is deemed appropriate.”

Survivors of abuse in schools are living in all our parishes. They are our brothers and sisters. As a bishop, I want to offer my sincere apology to all those who have been affected by abuse in the context of Church.

He said that he “know[s] from past experience that these words, however well intended, may sound hollow to survivors and their families”, adding he appreciates that “actions speak louder than words”.

“Together with the safeguarding teams in both dioceses, I am committed to ensuring that the policies and procedures which have been put in place for the safeguarding of children will continue to be fully implemented,” the bishop said.

“The report serves only to renew that commitment. I encourage all our clergy and parishioners to be alert to anything which might put children at risk of harm and I encourage anyone who has a concern, a suspicion or knowledge of abuse to speak to the trained safeguarding personnel in our schools and dioceses, or to report them directly to An Garda Síochána or to Tusla.”

Later in the day, the Catholic Education Partnership issued a statement to say that it “wishes to publicly commit the Catholic education sector to fully cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry when the Government publishes its terms of reference”.

It said it is “important to assure parents and students today that Catholic schools have robust child safeguarding procedures, most recently reviewed in 2023″ and said the Catholic education sector is “fully committed to maintaining effective child safeguarding and has always engaged positively with the Department of Education on the development, review and improvement of these standards and will continue to do so”.

It added that Department of Education school inspections include a child safeguarding review and cited part of the scoping inquiry report that notes there are robust safeguarding procedures in place in the education sector today.

“It is painfully clear that children and the trust of their families were betrayed in the most devastating of ways. The Catholic Education Partnership commits to working with our stakeholders and the State to ensure that we uphold out moral, civic, and statutory responsibilities.”