TUAM: THE ARCHBISHOP of Tuam has warned against “complacency” in safeguarding children from sexual abuse.
Responding to the audit of safeguarding practice in his archdiocese, Dr Michael Neary also said he was both “pleased and saddened” by its findings, and he wished to reiterate his “sincere apology” to all survivors of abuse.
The report commends Dr Neary’s handling of abuse allegations in the archdiocese, which is geographically the island’s largest, extending from Achill Island, Co Mayo, to parts of Galway and Roscommon.
However, it criticises what appears to have been a “defensive and internally focused” response of his predecessors in relation to abuse allegations.
Speaking to The Irish Times at Tuam cathedral Wednesday, Dr Neary said an “abhorrent” situation experienced by so many victims had been compounded by the fact that “they weren’t listened to, and they weren’t believed and consequently the suffering was far greater for them and their families”.
“They came expecting to find that their situation would be addressed and found that the church was slow to act,” Dr Neary said.
The audit notes that 26 allegations of abuse in the Tuam archdiocese were reported to the authorities since 1975 and 18 priests were the subject of such allegations. It says “serious harm” was done to children by a “few priests of the archdiocese”.
Dr Neary said the earliest allegation dated back to the 1940s and the most recent allegations related to incidents 20 years ago. He was installed in January 1995.
“There has been no abuse of a minor by a priest in this archdiocese in the past 20 years,” he said.
Asked about the audit’s comment on his predecessors, Dr Neary said he was “very fortunate to have greater awareness of the damage caused by child sexual abuse”.
Dr Neary said the “real danger now” was that there “might be complacency” on the issue.
“If we become complacent towards child safeguarding, the danger is that we won’t have the kind of vigilance that keeps us alert,” he said.
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