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	Church Child Abuse Legacy Is Shameful Sunday Mail May 24, 2009 http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/opinion/columnists/elaine-c-smith/2009/05/24/church-child-abuse-legacy-is-shameful-78057-21385258/ WHAT was most shocking about the revelations of systematic abuse in Ireland's religious care homes is that it wasn't more of a surprise. The scale of the beatings, the abuse and the horrible mistreatment of the most vulnerable was worse than most of us could have feared. But in Scotland we have already discovered that far too many young children have been damaged and abused by people supposed to care for them. The children's homes run by churches, charities and local authorities have been guilty of appalling abuse over the years. Senior churchmen, inspectors and councillors, who stuck their fingers in their ears and turned the other way, are just as bad. In Ireland those in powerful positions in the Catholic church are as guilty as those who carried out the abuse. They denied it, called children liars and insisted it was a few isolated incidents. They knew abuse was going on and let priests carry on knowing what they had done. Some even ran youth clubs for boys in the basement of their houses funded by a church that knew they were paedophiles. The worry is that, as we expose the legacy of abuse, the church is ignoring the huge levels of mistreatment being inflicted in Brazil, Latin America and Africa. This was something we, as a society, wanted to pretend was not happening. We can all look at the state of our society and remember the good old days. Well, they were bloody awful days for kids abused by carers and ignored by the rest of us. Maybe we should rejoice that this festering sore has been brought into the light. It is painful and horrible to face but it tells us we must change and build a better and fairer society for all kids..
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