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priest image via Shutterstock

The Catholic Church is coming up with new rules for priests accused of sexual abuse

The decision has been welcomed by an organisation representing priests in Ireland, which said support is needed for those wrongly accused.

NEW CHILD PROTECTION guidelines for the Catholic Church in Ireland will include a section on priests who have been accused of abuse.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) confirmed to TheJournal.ie that guidelines about the duty of care to an accused priest will be included, with a draft due to be submitted for a period of consultation next month.

Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests said this was a welcome move in the case of wrongly accused priests in the Church.

He said there is a difficult balancing act when it comes to abuse allegations, between duty of care to the child and fairness to the priest involved.

“Of course, absolutely anything that can protect children in the church we’d be in favour of and we have done that over the years.”

Though he said priests are supportive of measures to protect children, there have been cases where people have been falsely accused, citing one example where a priest was was of the ministry for a number of years until court proceedings were finished.

“Priests are in a unique position in terms of these issues. If it’s a garda or a teacher, they can just go home to their house. Priests are living in houses owned by the diocese so where do they go?”

He also referred to a study conducted by Amarach in 2012, which found that almost half of Irish people thought 20% of priests are paedophiles.

“That’s absolutely crazy and we like to point out that’s not so. Priests got a lot of attention for this, rather than teachers or doctors or gardaí in the same position.”

Read: Archbishop says he is ‘seriously concerned’ about latest reports into child protection>

Read: Pope says smacking children is okay — as long as their dignity is maintained>

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    Mute Andy Cheung
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:00 AM

    Missing files about missing files?

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    Mute Gillian Scully
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:17 AM

    @Andy Cheung: I know hilarious and I am still giggling.

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    Mute billy Dorney
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:37 AM

    Secondhand information

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jan 31st 2018, 10:26 AM

    @billy Dorney: beat me to it

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    Mute billy Dorney
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    Jan 31st 2018, 6:55 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: just id say

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    Mute pats brandon
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:26 AM

    This blunder has serious ramificaitons. Skippy’s cover in Afghanistan has been completely blown.

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    Mute Reuben Gray
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:06 AM

    “Australian cabinet papers are usually not released to the public until two decades after they were created.”

    So is this the normal method of release for “cabinet papers” then?

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    Mute Paul Jennings
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    Jan 31st 2018, 11:10 AM

    Great places for unusual finds, secondhand shops. It took a student innocently rummaging through a drawer or a file stumbling over the findings of Unit 731, a hell-on-earth “medical research” centre in wartime occupied China where victims were subjected to experimental invasive surgery, freezing, burning, electrocution, infection, being spun in centrifuges, placed in pressure cells until they imploded and vivisection. All conducted without anaesthetic, because it might “influence” or “compromise” the accuracy of the results. It’s a wonder governments/organisations don’t cover their (dirty) asses better when disposing of incriminating material.

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    Mute billy Dorney
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    Feb 1st 2018, 6:08 AM

    @Paul Jennings: thats hard, never heard until now of such a (bar auchwitz)

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    Mute Liam Doyle
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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:25 AM

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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:20 AM

    Just put them on the Barbie cobber!

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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:59 AM

    What about putting the bubbles in Beer? Is THAT secret still safe?

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    Jan 31st 2018, 9:10 AM

    To be found under the fiction book shelf

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    Jan 31st 2018, 5:25 PM

    Quick tell the prime minister. ‘Oi Prime Minister!!!!!’

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