BishopAccountability.org
	Abuse Report Was Medieval in Its Scale of Horror Kilkenny Advertiser May 22, 2009 http://www.advertiser.ie/kilkenny/article/12731 It has been a very historic week for Kilkenny — another name has been added to the list of people honoured with the title Freeman of this City. It is a title that stems from a time many centuries ago when those honoured thus were called upon to defend the integrity and security of the city. It is a title that comes from a time when feudalism and savagery ruled the countryside, when cities like this one were subject to the bombardments of invaders. When one is now conferred with a Freedom of a city, we jest at the medieval rights it brings, such as the right to graze one’s sheep in the public areas and to march your herd through the town. These are reminders of a far distant time when we were not as civilised or organised. A day after that splendid ceremony in Kilkenny Castle, we got another reminder of our savage past when the Commission into Child Abuse released a long overdue report that showed how we allowed the most vulnerable among us to become the sexual playthings of the most sadistic members of professions and order we were supposed to respect. What came out has been described as s sort of Irish holocaust — a time when the screams of those victims went unheard or ignored. From time to time we have been reminded of this horror, but never has there been as much corroborated evidence as in this report. And despite the details of the actions of the 800 abusers, it is almost certain that there are thousands of other cases that are not recorded because they could not be confirmed, were never reported or because they exist solely now in the hellish and tormented minds of the victims for whom silence is the chosen option. So many lives have been ruined by this reign of terror. We squirm when we hear about the use of rape as a weapon of war in less developed countries, but when we read a cool collected compilation of facts and testimonies such as this dispassionate report, we should be ashamed to learn that all of this happened in our own towns and villages, and in our own lifetimes. What came out could have been a history of torture, so barbaric and extreme were the beatings the rapes, the whippings, and the forced acceptance. What was also equally horrifying is at last the corroborated uncontradicted revelations that abusers were aided and abetted and even though the recidivism of their sick tastes was known to their superiors, these abusers were permitted to have access to children whose voices would not be heard or believed. Much has been made of the background of the abusers, that they were only following a system that was in place, but there is no justification for the sexual deviance that allowed this hidden Irish sex industry to thrive. In Kilkenny, the report outlined how failures by the congregation, the Department of Education, and the Gardai were major factors in allowing abusers to continue their cruel practices. It revealed that particular cases in the city were confirmed by the Department of Education, yet still not referred to the Gardai. Despite the introduction of innovative childcare training and guidance guidelines by the Sisters of Mercy in Kilkenny, there were still ‘serious instances of sexual abuse’. It has been a glorious week for Kilkenny, the splendour of the event in Kilkenny Castle a reminder of how the old and the new can be married. However history and tradition is only of use to us if we learn from it. As a society, this community and others around the country have failed grossly those victims of abuse who were left to suffer in silence. If we want to call ourselves civilised and responsible, we must endeavour that such horror is never ever re-visited on the children of this country.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.