Independent Strategic Review of Child Safeguarding in the Catholic Church: Survivor Consultation
The Catholic Church, through the offices of the Irish Episcopal Conference (IEC) and the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI), has commissioned independent consultants, RSM Ireland, to undertake a Strategic Review of Child Safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Ireland. This is an external review which will include, as an essential component, the voice of victims and survivors of abuse.
The purpose of this Review is to evaluate all aspects of safeguarding, including the impact and effectiveness of the work done by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland and the two support organisations for survivors, Towards Healing and Towards Peace.
An important part of this Review is to engage with survivors and victims of abuse so that their perspectives and experiences are meaningfully heard and considered by the Review Team. The abuse could be physical, sexual, emotional, financial or spiritual in nature. Specifically, the reviewers are seeking to engage with survivors who have disclosed their abuse within the last 20 years to determine what the Church is currently doing well, and which aspects of the Church’s response could be improved upon. This 20-year timeframe has been applied to the Review because the current safeguarding systems in the Church, which are the subject of this Review, have been in existence for up to 20 years.
This consultation is taking place from 6th October 2023 to 6th November 2023, using a survey that has been specifically created for this purpose.
The reviewers are fully aware that engaging in this process may be difficult for many and request that only those who feel fully comfortable to participate do so. The survey should not be used to make a new allegation of abuse, which should be done through the normal reporting channels and to the statutory agencies as necessary. The survey itself highlights some of the supports that are available to survivors, should they be needed.
| Survey for Survivors |
For anyone unable to complete this survey online, please contact Survivor.Consultation@rsmireland.ie to get a copy of the survey sent out in the post.
Further information about this Review can be found on the reviewers’ website