The Great Betrayal
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The report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, a 2,600 page tome chronicling some of the most monstrous acts of abuse that plagued institutions across this state for over a generation offers an appalling vista on the Ireland of yesteryear. There are many tragedies emanating from this dark period of Irish history. Foremost of course is the ruination of many young lives whose futures were irreparably scarred, forever burdened by this violation of trust and all concepts of morality that was probably far beyond their comprehension. No act of contrition shall ever fully remedy the indignities and betrayals that they suffered.
A second tragedy though is that the legacy of many dedicated and pious souls has been forever tarnished, the incredible acts of bringing education to the impoverished masses, of rising nations from ignorance to understanding, by orders composed of decent individuals who genuinely only ever sought to bring some Christian compassion into an otherwise cruel world, shall be forever viewed as murky in substance, tainted.
My generation shall undoubtedly turn away from what for decades was effectively the established church in ever greater numbers, dogmas on matters of morality may still reverberate in churches across the nation but such teachings ring hollow, any institute which abandons its own people, shelters the perpetrators of heinous acts and indeed allows such abusers move from congregation to congregation, is simply striped of all moral authority.
In the words of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in today’s Irish Times:
Somehow along the way the most essential dimension of the life of the followers of Jesus Christ got lost by many. The Christian message is a message of love. What the Ryan commission recounts is sadly so very far removed from that. In Jesus’s eyes the poor deserve the best and they did not receive it here.
Looking back to last November I wrote a blog post, all of which is still relevant today:
“One of the greatest scandals of recent times was the deal struck between the Department of Eduction, then led by Minister Michael Woods, and the religious organizations who controlled the institutes where the appalling abuses which scarred the lives of so many occurred. In effect the deal recused these organizations of the vast majority of their financial liabilities and transferred unlimited liability to the State, the reality is ordinary taxpayers have propped up these bodies and paid an outrageous proportion of the damages for acts perpetrated by their members. Certainly I would agree that the State must pay a portion of the damages, there were great failures on the part of those who were supposed to inspect these facilities, however the burden shifted to the State is beyond all belief. Today’s Examiner notes that the religious bodies shall pay a mere 12% of the expected claims and the estimated total figure of €1.1 billion to be granted by the Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB) is still being adjusted. For once I would fully endorse the words of Fine Gael Education Spokesman Brian Hayes, “It was probably one of the most reckless, incompetent and financially illiterate deals that was ever struck.”
A shameful mark on our nation’s history.”
Tags: Catholic Church, Child Abuse, Ireland, Michael Woods, Religious Orders
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