ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS - La Santa Sede

Acta Benedicti Pp.XVI 687
cases should be handled and to formulate guidelines in that regard. The
Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Bishop Laurence Forristal, explained
the brief of that Committee in the following way: “Our immediate brief is to
provide co-ordinated, orderly advice to bishops and religious superiors on how to
deal with allegations of child sexual abuse and also to provide ongoing advice.
What many people perhaps don’t realise is that each diocese is an independent
unit, and forms its own policies.The idea behind the committee was to avail of the
advice of experts and to formulate guidelines that would allow a more uniform
approach” (The Irish Times, 15 October 1994, p. 3).
While these guidelines were being developed, the Conference engaged in a
process of consultation with the Congregation for the Clergy regarding the
content of the document so as to ensure its effective application. In the light
of these consultations, various amendments were made to the text. It was the
Conference’s right to consult and, given the Holy See’s responsibility for the
laws of the Church which apply universally, it was certainly appropriate for
the Congregation to offer its advice and considered opinion on the content of
the document.
The definitive draft of the Framework Document was communicated by
fax to the Congregation on 23 December 1995 and this was followed by a
faxed letter addressed to the then Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal José
T. Sánchez, which was dated 4 January 1996 and signed by Cardinal Cahal
Daly, then President of the Irish Episcopal Conference, and by Archbishop
Desmond Connell, then Vice-President of the Conference. According to that
letter, “The text is not an official publication either of the Episcopal Conference
or of the Conference of Religious.It is a framework, offered to the Bishops
and Religious Superiors as a code of recommended practice to facilitate them
in dealing with cases which may arise within their respective jurisdictions”
and “The present text is by no means a final word from the Bishops and
Religious Superiors on this issue.”
The letter also stated that since the publication date had been set for
16 January 1996, further amendments could be incorporated only before
7 January; otherwise a complete reprint would be necessary. Given that
deadline, the Congregation was unable to examine the document and
communicate to the Bishops its considered assessment of the revised text
prior to the publication of the Framework Document.