Expert hails bishops' commitment to child protection policies

Paul Keenan

The era of abuse that has scarred the Irish Church is ''coming to and end'', a leading expert in child protection has said.

Ian Elliott, chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) states his belief that ''a uniform commitment to change has taken root across dioceses'' that was not evident in previous years.''A shift in attitude and behaviour has happened,'' Mr Elliott writes in this week's Irish Catholic, ''[and] that change should be acknowledged.''

Reflecting on the recent negative coverage of the Irish bishops' visit to discuss the abuse crisis with Pope Benedict, Mr Elliott states that a single important factor has been missed by observers of events in Rome.

''What's been missed is the confirmation, in the official statement emerging after the bishops' audience with his Holiness, of their collective commitment to the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland. That matters. It shouldn't be missed.''

Describing previous failures to deal properly with abusers, together with claims of a lack of understanding of the issue as an era that is ''coming to an end'', Mr Elliott points out that ''several bishops have already attended training courses run by the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children.

''I would hope that all of the hierarchy, north and south of the border, will follow their example in the coming year.''

That, Mr Elliott points out, ''was not the case when I took up this post over two years ago.

At that point, as became publicly evident, some bishops were less than committed to the work of the board''.

''If all aspects of hierarchical commitment continue,'' Mr Elliott asserts, ''Ireland could, within the foreseeable future, become a case study in excellence where the safeguarding of children is concerned''.

Previously the director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Belfast, Mr Elliott was appointed in August 2007 as the first chief executive officer of the NBSCCC, tasked with monitoring the implementation of child protection measures within the Catholic Church and its agencies on the island of Ireland. At the time of that appointment, the bishops described him as a man of ''proven integrity, expertise and stature'' and welcomed his appointment ''at this moment in the Church's history''.

Children must come first in the Catholic Church - See Comment section