Fr Eamonn Conway and Fr Patrick Connolly, lecturers in the Department of Theology & Religious Studies, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, say that the Church's new guidelines are out of line with those of the state.

They say that Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has implied that "by criticising the Church's measures priests are seeking some kind of special treatment. He thinks priests don't understand the dilemmas faced by their bishops and are out of touch with the wishes of their parishioners".

Conway and Connolly stress the Archbishop is right when he says that children must be protected; that clear, strict guidelines have to be devised and enforced and that priests should be treated the same as everyone else. But they argue that, under the new church guidelines, priests are not treated the same.

"In the case of a priest, the preliminary investigation into an allegation could in theory begin and end without the priest being heard, and result in him being reported to the gardai, the HSE and even to the Vatican, without him even knowing it, " Conway and Connolly say. There is no onus under the guidelines for the priest to be provided with details of the allegation in writing nor is the priest necessarily invited to make a written response, which would happen if he were a teacher, they add.

The two theologians note that under 'Our Children, Our Church', a priest's ministry is to be immediately limited if it would constitute a source of scandal to the faithful, regardless of whether or not he might be perceived as a risk to children. The guidelines also imply, they claim, that the priest should be persuaded to step aside from the beginning "regardless of whether or not the allegation contains a semblance of truth".

And, Conway and Connolly say that, while the national guidelines specify that when protective measures penalise the employee, early consideration should be given to the case, there is no such statement in 'Our Children, Our Church'.