Profile: The Irish Child & Family Institute

The Irish Child & Family Institute (ICFI) was established in 2006 with the goal of providing independent child welfare and psycho-social services to a variety of statutory and non- statutory organisations. Since then, ICFI has been commissioned by Tusla – the Child and Family Agency, the Health Service Executive, An Garda Siochána, the State Claims Agency, the Legal Aid Board, CORU Regulation Board, various dioceses NGOs, as well as multiple independent law firms. It also provides services to a number of organisations in Spain and to the Council of Europe in Moldova. Since 2023, it has also provided consultation services to the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Schools run by Religious Orders.

In addition to the above, ICFI has also been frequently commissioned by a variety of Irish religious authorities, including both diocesan and religious orders, to provide professional support (including expert psycho-social assessment of need and risk) in respect of individual diocesan priests and members of religious communities whose ministries and life quality have been negatively impacted and compromised due to personal difficulties.

ICFI is acutely aware of the unique circumstances and challenges facing many priests and religious at this time and as such, wishes to raise awareness with the ACP as a national association, of the added support services that may be provided across both diocese’ and religious orders to individual members of clergy and religious communities across the island of Ireland, should it be deemed necessary to seek professional support, assessment and guidance. This is particularly so into cases of alleged wrongdoing by priests and religious.

The objective of bringing this communication is not with the intention of simply ‘marketing’ the work of the ICFI, but rather to raise awareness within the ACP of its potential as an additional professional resource which you may wish to include in your existing national directory of resources.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss any aspect of ICFI’s work etc please visit its website:

www.irishchildandfamily.com

or else contact either of the undersigned.

Kieran McGrath, Director ICFI, (+353) 01 4429144

KieranMcGrath@irishchildandfamily.com

Denis Cullen, ICFI Associate/Consultant, 083-4047506

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Another Irish bishop calls for Synodality in the Church

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William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne, speaking to the priests of that diocese told them that in his recent teaching Pope Francis emphasises ‘that an effective Christian communion requires that we embrace the concept of Synodality in the everyday life of the Church.  It is both the concept and reality of journeying with people.  It is to trust in the “sensus fidei” ‘.
Bishop Crean also reminded his audience of the good done in the past by religious and priests but also stated ‘The long lens of hindsight enables us to identify the poor pastoral practice of many of our predecessors.  Though well-intentioned a narrow moralistic focus made for a distorted and dysfunctional spiritual vision/understanding of Christian living.  We live with both the riches and the baggage of our past.’

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