Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 695

ombudsman for children, to further strengthen the position, but he stopped short of

introducing mandatory reporting at this time. That was a consensus view of those

involved in the day to day care of children. That decision was not made in the

interest of the professions, it was made in the interest of the protection of children.

The Deputy is aware there is major potential downside to mandatory reporting,

as experienced in the United States. The Minister of State has brought the profes-

sionals with him. He has introduced a series of initiatives, said they will be

evaluated after an appropriate time and if the mandatory route is deemed to be

necessary we can reconsider the position with a view to taking that route."

Like the Irish Government of the time, and like those who made submis-

sions to the public consultation on mandatory reporting, the Holy See too

was and is deeply committed to ensuring the protection of children and

young people, while being well aware of the complexity of the issues sur-

rounding mandatory reporting. It notes that although mandatory reporting

was not introduced in Ireland in subsequent years, the Irish State did intro-

duce various sets of guidelines, including Children First: National Guidelines

for the Protection and Welfare of Children (1999), Child Protection - Guidelines

and Procedures (2001) and Child Protection Guidelines for Post-Primary

Schools (2004).

The Holy See has taken note of the present Irish Government's intention

"to introduce legislation to making it a criminal offence to withhold information

about serious offence against a child" (Speaking points presented by Mr Gil-

more to the Apostolic Nuncio). While the Holy See obviously cannot com-

ment on the proposed legislation without knowing the details, it does wel-

come and support whatever will genuinely contribute to the protection of

children. With regard to the question of reporting to the civil authorities, the

Holy See's position, while not new, is explicitly stated in the above-men-

tioned Circular Letter of 3 May 2011, namely: "Specifically, without prejudice

to the sacramental internal forum, the prescriptions of civil law regarding the

reporting of such crimes to the designated authority should always be followed."

2. The Taoiseach's speech on the Cloyne Report

The Holy See understands and shares the depth of public anger and

frustration at the findings of the Cloyne Report, which found expression in

the speech made by the Taoiseach, Mr Enda Kenny, in Dáil Éireann on