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	Irish Child-Abuse Report Triggers Row between Irish, English Clerics By Ray McMenamin Anglican Media (Australia) May 25, 2009 http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/main.php?pg=news&news_id=20697&s=157 The fallout from an Irish judicial commission report into child abuse at Roman Catholic institutions in Ireland has impacted on relations between church leaders in Ireland and Britain, when the archbishop of Dublin issued what was interpreted as an unprecedented public rebuke to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on 21 May described as "unhelpful" comments made by Vincent Nicols, who was installed the previous the day as the Archbishop of Westminster. That was after Nicols said it "took courage" for some of the clergy "to face these facts from their past". Victims of abuse by clergy condemned Nicols' comments made on 20 May, the day before his installation to the most senior position in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and Archbishop Martin distanced himself from the remarks. "His comments, as reported, have not been helpful," Archbishop Martin told the Irish Independent newspaper. "My thoughts and anger are entirely on the side of victims," he noted. "They are the real heroes of this story by finding the courage to come forward." Nichols had made his statement on the Irish clergy in a BBC radio interview following the findings of the Ryan Commission report, which recorded that clerical sexual abuse was "endemic" in children's institutions run by religious orders. In the interview broadcast the day before his installation Nichols said: "It is a tough road to take, to face up to our own weaknesses." Nicols also said in a separate interview, "Every time there is a single incident of abuse in the Catholic Church it is a scandal." Clergy should "absolutely" face police and legal process, he said, "if the offences are such that [they] demand that". The Irish Independent newspaper described the outcome of the judicial commission as a "'sweetheart" deal between the Irish government and 18 religious orders "which allows the Catholic Church to escape 90 percent of the cost of compensating abuse victims". The commission, chaired by a high court judge, was set up by the Irish government in 2000 to investigate allegations of abuse at educational institutions from 1936 to the present. Many of the institutions, including "industrial schools" were run by religious orders. Among orders investigated by the commission were the Christian Brothers Order, the Institute of Charity (Rosminians), the Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The report, published in Dublin on 20 May, runs to around 2000 pages and it covers more than five volumes. It is highly critical of the industrial schools and reformatories which existed in Ireland from their establishment in 1868 until the 1970s. The commission describes industrial schools as "a Victorian model of childcare that failed to adapt to 20th century conditions and did not prioritise the needs of children". The report said, "Physical and emotional abuse and neglect were features of the institutions. 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." Tom Sweeney, one of those who experienced the industrial school system at first hand, said the report had come too late for some people. "Unfortunately there are a lot of people that have committed suicide, there are a lot of people that have ended up in hospitals and they have been forgotten about," Sweeney was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. More allegations were made against the Christian Brothers Order than all of the other male orders combined. The report says the Christian Brothers Order was defensive in its response to complaints and claims and that the order had failed to accept any congregational responsibility for such abuse. Speaking on Irish public radio shortly after the report's publication, the Irish head of the Christian Brothers, Brother Edmund Garvey, said, "Our first response to the report is to openly and unreservedly express our heartfelt sorrow and sadness and regret for what those people who were victimised in those institutions in any way whatsoever suffered in the past." The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, said the report's publication, "throws light on a dark period of the past". He noted the report is an "important step in establishing the truth, giving justice to victims and ensuring such abuse does not happen again". The Belfast Telegraph newspaper editorialised, "It was, quite literally, abuse of children on an industrial scale. The abusers, some who were serial abusers, were able to get away with their evil perversions thanks to the submissiveness of the State authorities towards the Church. The real control of the institutions lay in the hands of clergy, Christian Brothers and nuns."
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