The long-awaited Irish government report on child abuse in Catholic Church-run reformatories is out, and it is devastating. Excerpts from the NYT story:
A commission investigating child abuse in Ireland's Roman Catholic-run state orphanages, reformatories and schools released a scathing report on Wednesday, documenting widespread physical, sexual and emotional abuse of thousands of children over 60 years.Government inspectors failed to stop chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation in the state sponsored institutions. In some schools, the report found, "a high level of ritualized beating was routine." [Emphasis mine -- RD]
The commission, which began its work in 2000, investigated the fate of more than 30,000 children consigned to a network of church-run institutions and schools between the 1920s and the 1980s, when most of them were closed. The Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse investigated complaints from more than 1,700 individuals -- many of them now more than 70 years old.
The 2,600-page report, released Wednesday, seems likely to further undercut the moral authority of the Catholic church in a once devout country where attendance at mass has plunged over the last decade. It found that a climate of fear permeated most of the institutions, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment at the hands of priests and nuns. Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating or sexual assault was coming from. [Emphasis mine. -- RD]
"Physical and emotional abuse and neglect were features of the institutions," the report concluded. "Sexual abuse occurred in many of them, particularly boys' institutions. Schools were run in a severe, regimented manner that imposed unreasonable and oppressive discipline on children and even on staff."
The nation's Department of Education, responsible for supervising the schools, failed to protect the children, the report found, deferring to the religious orders running the institutions day-to-day, chiefly the Christian Brothers for boys and the Sisters of Mercy for girls.
"The deferential and submissive attitude of the Department of Education towards the Congregations compromised its ability to carry out its statutory duty of inspection and monitoring of the schools," the report said.
The authorities mostly turned a deaf ear to the reports of abuse, particularly sexual predation by priests and inmates in the boys' institutions, even when the victims came to them with complaints, the commission said.
"The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained of the activities of some of the men who had responsibility for their care," the commission found. "At best, the abusers were moved, but nothing was done about the harm done to the child. At worst, the child was blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely."
Representatives of the Church beat the hell out of these helpless children. And the government let them get away with it. Millstones, my dears, millstones.
By the way, if you want to read the entire official report, or parts of it, it's on the Irish Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse website -- but today, the site is so jammed that I couldn't get anything open there.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
I don't want to add unduly to the length of this thread. But Elizabeth at 11:28 and Sigaliris at 11:50 are spot on.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, and all that merda.
Colm: "The level of abuse is much higher, it's current, and yet I don't see half as much energy or outrage directed towards that as I do to what happened in some Catholic schools to 1,700 Irish children over the course of 70 years."
That's because...last I checked...we were supposed to expect better from Christians. Higher standard and all? When folks claim to follow Jesus don't we expect better from them?
Or is all that just BS, Colm?
Erin: "But declaring that *all* Catholics ought to take responsibility for what happened in these Irish schools over a seventy-year time period is risible, frankly. And insinuating that these problems only exist in Catholic institutions is sadly wrong, and unlikely to do the girl being raped by her public school gym teacher today any good."
To borrow a phrase that Rod used in another thread today, Erin. Nobody here has said that all Catholics are abusers. But it is undeniable that the bulk of the reports we have seen over the past years involve Catholic perpetrators protected by Catholic officials.
Rod rightly pointed out that the Muslims of the world have a problem to deal with in the form of terrorists in their midst. I think it is equally right to point out that the Catholic church has a problem to deal with in the form of abusers and their enablers, many of whom STILL hold positions of power in the church.
If it is the responsibility of Muslims everywhere to renounce and resist the terrorists in their midst, is it not also the responsibility of Catholics everywhere to renounce and resist abusers/enablers in their midst?
Many times Rod has insisted that those Muslims who continually state that terrorism runs counter to the teachings of the Quran should prove their words with actions. He and others have called for them to work harder to expunge the terrorists from their faith, to work with others in the world against Muslim terror.
Maybe the same should apply here, Erin. Rather than pointing out how the Catholic abuse crisis is no worse than the crisis in Protestant churches or than in the public school system (which in essence is simply saying that belief in God is meaningless), why not take the same strong stand against abuse that you and Rod are calling the Muslims to take against terrorism?
Catholicism has a problem, Erin. Until Catholics stand up and deal with it forthrightly, without pretense and with complete and utter transparency, the problem will simply get worse.
GoodguyEx: "I continue to have mixed feelings about things like this. Yes, no doubt some bad stuff happened."
:-) Shall I relate to you the "special" communion that our local priest held for "his boys" after Mass? Or maybe I can share with you how, once my family decided to come forward and complain, we were told by the bishop and archbishop that they would look into it, but that we had best keep this to ourselves since "we wouldn't want any damage to come to Christ's mission over this." And perhaps I can share with you the stories of a couple of other young fellows who crossed the path of this "Godly" man once he was moved from our parish to another one across the state.
No, I'll refrain. I wouldn't want to offend your sensibilities or sway you from your mixed feelings over this.
Robert and others are correct to point out that corporal punishment, like anything, an be overdone, however I look back on my on Catholic School experience in the bad old pre-Vatican II days differently. While I experienced similar discipline, rarely was it undeserved. The sometimes harsh discipline was nothing like Marine recruits at the time would've experienced, and it's an open question as to whether students are harmed more by corporal punishment, or the current atmosphere, where school children aren't taught to either self-control or to respect their elders. Discipline can be abused, but discipline forms character, especially among the poor and those without access to a pampered upbringing. Better a few harsh stripes while young than the pampered pandering that all too often passes for schooling these days.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.