Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale370

(Guidelines) are being followed. The Visitators welcome the process, already

initiated by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic

Church, of regularly auditing the implementation of the Guidelines. It is

recommended that this process of covering all Dioceses and Religious

Institutes by regular audits will be implemented in a prompt manner.

4) In recent years the work of the National Board for Safeguarding

Children in the Catholic Church has been thorough and far-reaching, for

which reason it should be supported by the Bishops, Religious Superiors

and the whole community of the Church in Ireland, and it should continue

to receive sufficient personnel and funding.

5) The Archbishops of the visited Archdioceses gave assurance that all

newly-discovered cases of abuse are promptly brought before both the

competent civil authority and the Congregation for the Doctrine of

the Faith.

6) The norms contained in the Guidelines, as well as the procedures to

implement them, must be updated in accordance with the indications pub-

lished on 3 May 2011 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and

also periodically revised. The Guidelines need to be amended in order to

create a common model for all the Dioceses and Religious Institutes, and

they should be periodically re-examined in order to ensure increasing effec-

tiveness both in the work of prevention and in the response to cases of abuse

in all the required aspects, for the good of everyone concerned.

7) In view of the shortage of personnel trained in canon law, the

Visitators insisted on the need for a reorganization of Ireland's

ecclesiastical tribunals, to be carried out in cooperation with the competent

bodies of the Holy See, so that the various cases still awaiting definitive

resolution can be adequately processed.

8) The Visitators were struck by the efforts made throughout the country

by Bishops, priests, Religious and lay persons to implement the Guidelines

and to create safe environments. In the four Archdioceses, the results of these

efforts were judged to be excellent. In addition to the large number of

volunteers, they noted the presence of men and women within the various

safeguarding structures who bring the highest level of professionalism to the

service of the Christian community.