A man looks at the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday May, 20, 2009. A fiercely debated, nine-year investigation into Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions says priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades – and government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation.
(Peter Morrison/AP)Photos (1 of 1)
Report: widespread abuse of Irish children in Catholic Church-run institutions
The government did little as Generations of children were abused, according to the nearly decade-long investigation. Counseling centers report a surge in callers since the report's release.
By Michael Seaver | Correspondent 05.21.09
DUBLIN, IRELAND – Help lines and counseling services have reported a surge in callers after the publication Wednesday of a five-volume report (find it here) by Ireland’s Commission into Child Abuse that found widespread “physical and emotional abuse and neglect” of thousands of children in dozens of orphanages, schools, and workhouse-style reform schools run by Roman Catholic religious orders.
The victim support group, One in Four, which called yesterday a “shameful day” for Ireland, kept its lines open into the night. Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, chief executive of the Rape Crisis Centre, told The Irish Times that many who had contacted the center were first-time callers.
“Last night we brought in extra volunteers to man the phones … and already today we’ve had a large number of people contacting us,” she said.
The report found that sexual abuse was “endemic” in boys’ institutions, and throughout the system children were “frequently hungry” and “lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from.” The investigation spanned incidents from the 1930s to the 1990s. Many of the institutions have since closed. The government has vowed to increase unannounced inspections of those still open.
Based on evidence from almost 2,000 witnesses and various representatives from religious orders that ran the institutions, the report took nearly a decade to complete. In addition to the investigation committee, which produced the report, there was also a truth forum-style confidential committee that allowed victims to tell their stories out of the public eye.
More than 800 priests, nuns, and brothers were implicated in the report. Victims’ groups have expressed outrage that specific names of abusers were not mentioned. Much of the abuse is blamed on the Christian Brothers religious order, which was Ireland’s largest provider of workhouse-style schools for boys. The order successfully sued the commission in 2004 to prevent names from being included in the report.
Although the abuse took place in religious-run institutions, the government’s Department of Education “knew that violence and beatings were endemic in the system.” But “its deferential and submissive attitude towards the congregations compromised its ability to carry out its statutory duty of inspection and monitoring the schools.” Furthermore, the religious orders covered up cases of sexual abuse.
Cardinal Sean Brady, leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, said that he hoped that the report will help to heal the hurt of victims. “The Catholic Church remains determined to do all that is necessary to make the Church a safe, life-giving and joyful place for children,” he said in a statement.
[Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly attributed Cardinal Brady’s quote.]
The findings vindicate the victims, but author and playwright Mannix Flynn, who was sent to Letterfrack Reformatory School in Galway when he was 11 for stealing a box of chocolates, doubts that victims will find closure.
“I’m mindful that these reports aren’t some kind of memorial or closing of the process,” he told RTÉ News.
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2. Bernard Roth | 05.21.09
My Catholic education and its discipline saved me from a life of crime and incarceration. Unfortunatly too many california youth were not so fortunate.
3. June | 05.21.09
Looks to me like the “church” was/is/has been running a world wide pedophile ring while governments look for pot smokers.
4. Claude Wadsworth | 05.21.09
The catholic church is not on Gods list of a good place to be..
The traditions of men (catholic church ) make Gods word VOID
The catholic church seems to be involved in everything God is against..
5. Robbie | 05.23.09
What is an even sadder case is what the RC Church did to the Children of the First Nations who had no choice but to be incarcerated in the Church Schools in Canada. Far more deliberate damage was done to those children. The abuse was de facto state/church sanctioned. The goal was cultural ethnocide for many purposes, not the least of which was siezure of native lands and resources for free, What happened in Ireland to the children of the poor has been known for some time. But, it is not just the Catholic Church that engages in these kinds of crimes of false imprisonment. Two judges in Pennsylvannia were sent to prison this year for falsely adjucticating more than 5,000 children into a private prison for profit and profiting from their crimes. The US MilGroup actively recruits children into their violent cult and turns good kids intoi sadistic rapists and murderers. This story ain’t just about the Irish Christian Brothers.
6. Roger Davies | 05.24.09
I don’t quite understand why we are not rounding up all members of these institutions? They were clearly complex paedophile networks thinly veiled as religious orders to not arouse suspicion. Why are we not arresting all current members?
Or does this mean child abuse is okay, provided you are from the right religion?
7. Stephen Cobb | 05.25.09
The revelations in this report provide one of the strongest arguments ever for the separation of church and state. One is tempted to say that systemic abuse is pretty much inevitable when a country’s constitution begins with specific theology (Ireland’s begins with The Holy Trinity).
8. Robert G | 05.27.09
Historically, people were more inclined to overlook abuses because of the “spiritual” influence the Catholic Church had over parents, police and politicians and even other members of the clergy. The idea that the “Mother Church’s” reputation needed to be beyond reproach led people to a sad state of denial that is only now disintegrating.
This isn’t to say that the organization itself perpetrated these acts, but the situation did allow for generations of individuals to commit heinous acts and cover themselves and others by playing on the fears or others regarding the Church’s reputation.
America’s new-found secularism and social openness, since the 1960’s, has undoubtedly torn away these taboos and has allowed the truth to come to light.
As a Catholic father of two young boys, I’ve been hesitant to let my children out of my sight when it comes to participating in church events. This has led me to minimize my contact with the Church where my children are concerned. It’s unfortunate, but as long as the church maintains a policy of enforced celibacy, the sexually repressed or dysfunctional among the clergy will continue to hide until their unstable natures compel them to act out by way of aggression or some other negative expression.
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1. Julie Worley | 05.21.09
You might be interested to learn that the unacceptable practice of hitting children with wooden paddles still legally takes place in schools in 21 states in the U.S., it is called “Corporal (Physical) Punishment”. We found out about this when my own 13 year old son insisted his Middle School Assistant Principal call us, as they were about to administer a paddling to him for going outside with his class when he was told to stay in. It is done as a first resort, with no parental communication in hallways within earshot of other students. Thank goodness we have always taught our 3 children that NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TOUCH THEM, THEY CAN SAY “NO”, GET AWAY AND TELL SOMEONE to protect them from SEXUAL ABUSE! We have been working for over a year to raise awareness and advocate for Children’s Equal Civil Rights in American Schools. 29 states have Abolished Corporal Punishment in schools making it ILLEGAL. Congress held a hearing about abusive practices in schools 5/19/09. SPANKING schoolchildren with wooden paddles is NOT exactly Education’s “Best Practices” in 21st Century classrooms and is ABSOLUTELY NOT A LOCAL ISSUE TO BE DECIDED BY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS! The problem is that the Federal Government has no authority, although they could tie school paddling bans to federal education funding and States have relegated authority to individual autonomous UNRESPONSIVE local school district Governing Boards. State Legislators and/or Governors MUST pass school paddling bans tied to education funding and/or legislation to Abolish Corporal Punishment of Children in ALL AMERICAN SCHOOLS IMMEDIATELY!