Pope appoints prelates to investigate child abuse in Ireland’s Catholic Institutes

(June 01,2010) Pope Benedict XVI has appointed nine prelates, including the U.S. Archbishops of Boston and New York, to investigate child abuse in Ireland's Catholic institutions, said a Vatican statement. The Pope urged the Irish church to support the investigation, saying it could be a chance for hope and renewal. In a March letter to the Irish faithful, the Pope had promised an investigation that addressed chronic clerical child abuse in Ireland and decades of cover-ups by church authorities.
The investigation in Ireland, will deal with the handling of cases of abuse and providing assistance to victims. It will begin in four archdioceses, including Dublin, and then be extended to other dioceses, the Vatican said. It will also look at seminaries and religious houses. The nine investigators will look at the procedures currently in place to prevent abuse and seek ways to improve them. The Pope invited all the members of the Irish Catholic community to support this fraternal initiative: He hoped the investigation will be an occasion of renewed fervour in the Christian life, and that it may deepen their faith and strengthen their hope, the Vatican statement said.
The investigators named by Pope Benedict include the archbishops of Westminster in England, Toronto and Ottawa in Canada.