BishopAccountability.org
	State Cannot Just Absolve Itself of Blame for Abuse The Southern Star June 4, 2009 http://www.southernstar.ie/article.php?id=1334 THE State cannot just absolve itself of blame for the horrific systemic abuse of children in institutions run by religious orders, as outlined last week in the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, by merely putting the moral imperative on these orders to come up with further cash to compensate and help the victims. It is not that simple. While nothing can ever justify the abuses that were perpetrated on these innocent young children – many of them already victims of unfortunate family circumstances, mainly poverty-related, in the dark middle years of the last century – the religious orders involved were acting as agents of the State, which ultimately failed dismally in its obligation to ensure the safety and welfare of these children. And, this is where the buck must stop. Children were sent to these institutions for reasons that would be unthinkable in this day and age, but were accepted as the norm back in the early years of the State. In cases where a mother had died, as often happened in childbirth in those days, and the father could not eke out a living and bring up a young family at the same time, the children were taken into the care of institutions and, as families tended to be bigger then than they are now, siblings were split up and put in different institutions.This, in itself, was cruel enough, but the strict regimes that they were subjected to added to the trauma, as the religious running the institutions would themselves have had little or no nurturing maternal or paternal experience, so there was little in the way of warmth or loving affection towards the children, as they could not be seen to favour one child over another. However, the addition of further cruelty in the form of the systemic physical and sexual abuse of children – which has only been fully and frankly admitted to in the wake of last week’s report by Judge Ryan and his commission – was the final straw in the misery and degradation they suffered. While most of the members of these religious orders would have been well-intentioned in giving of themselves to the service of their Christian God through their work in these institutions, they also had to abide by and enforce the strict rules under which they operated. Some perverted members gave vent to their frustrations by inflicting cruel and degrading physical, mental and sexual abuse on their charges, while their colleagues in the religious orders added to the perpetration of this evil by not speaking out against it, or – worse still – by faciltiating it, albeit wittingly or unwittingly. That this type of punishment was allowed was horrendous, yet it happened and severely blighted the lives of its victims, making it very difficult for many of them to lead a normal life afterwards. Forming loving relationships was something that was almost impossible, while alcoholism and drug abuse, often leading to suicidal tendencies were further legacies of the survivors – whom the hurt never leaves. Author and playwright Mannix Flynn, who suffered abuse at the notorious Letterfrack institution in Galway, said last week that the abuse of children here in Ireland ‘will sit alongside the likes Pol Pot, Joe Stalin and Adolf Hitler.’ Strong words indeed, but obviously not said lightly, as he was speaking from first-hand experience and feels that he and his fellow victims have been let down and that every time this dark era of our past is revisited, it is always difficult for them to come to terms with it. He was particularly scathing of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ms. Eibhlin Byrne, for opening a book of solidarity at the Mansion House to enable the public to show empathy towards the victims of child abuse, describing her action as absolutely outrageous and disgusting. Mr. Flynn was also highly critical of the government’s role in the whole affair, especially the manner in which it legally indemnified the 18 religious orders when former Minister for Education, Dr. Michael Woods, brokered what was considered at the time, in 2002, a very soft deal for them, under which there was a cap put on the amount of compensation money to victims that they would be liable for. It is even worse now, seven years on, in the light of the full findings of the Ryan Commission, which confirmed that the abuse was more systemic than the religious orders were prepared to admit to at the time, but which they have now been forced to formally acknowledge. This means that any lingering doubts they had been casting on the accounts of victims in the interim, especially in cases before the Redress Board that they unsuccessfully contested, have at last been dispelled. For the surviving victims of abuse, it is a relief for them to be believed after a long and hard-fought campaign over the years to achieve what many of them regard as only the first step in their quest for justice and, hopefully, some closure. At least now, the religious orders have fully and unreservedly accepted their culpability for all the pain their members inflicted in the brutal regimes that children were subjected to for misdemeanours as minor as truancy. The orders have even been chided – and rightly so – by members of the hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church here in Ireland, as the actions of the abusers went against everything the church stood for. However, one wonders if this is self-serving too, as there is bound to be a further backlash against the church in the wake of the findings of the Ryan Commission, which will further affect attendances at religious services and also vocations to the priesthood, as the public would not make much distinction between priests, brothers and nuns. CORI, the umbrella group for the religious orders, has asserted their autonomy at the weekend and even criticised church leaders for their involvement in the debate that has followed the publication of the report into child abuse. However, moral leadership is needed now more than ever and the church has to provide this. Legally, the 2002 cap on compensation to victims probably cannot be exceeded in the context in which it was agreed, however there is a moral imperative on the religious orders to open up their assets to public scrutiny – maybe even voluntarily agreeing to allow experts such as staff of the Criminal Assets Bureau to examine them – and determine a generous, but fair amount that should be put into a new trust fund for the victims, and which should be independently administered, with a view to helping survivors and their families, many of whom would also have suffered collateral damage as a result of the abuse which scarred so many lives. The most important thing here is that the government takes control of the process and does not just rely on a voluntary disclosure and contribution, given the orders’ reticence at every step along the way so far. CORI has promised that the orders will hand over all their files to the State, but representatives of the victims are anxious that everything will be on the table in this process, including assets held in trust funds. The victims’ groups want the funding put in place in order that the government should ‘meet its duty to survivors and and future generations by administering care, education and welfare on all our behalf, today and in the future, in an accountable and transparent manner.’ These are not unreasonable demands and it is only right and proper, as we stated at the outset, that the State should take the lead and be pro-active in every aspect, as they owe it to all concerned. The most important first step must be the implementation of the 24 recommendations made in the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and it is encouraging to note that the Minister of State for Children, Mr. Barry Andrews, TD, is to take charge of this and that the government has set a deadline of the end of next month for compiling an implementation plan. Meanwhile, the calls by President Mary McAleese and by Minsiter for Justice, Mr. Dermot Ahern, TD, for criminal charges to be instigated against the perpetrators of abuse who are still alive should be acted upon. And, there is also the matter of examining the criminal convictions that were imposed on children decades ago when they were being sent to these institutons. Nothing like the same level of abuse was perpetrated in similar institutions in neighbouring Northern Ireland and the UK, because they were inspected and better regulated by the authorities. Here in the Republic of Ireland, the State seemed to turn a blind eye to the activites of the religious orders in these institutions, which everybody knew, anecdotally, were cruel places. Now that this has been confirmed as worse than any reasonable person could ever have imagined, the onus has to be on the State to face up to its responsibility to do the right thing for the victims – better late than never – without any further prevarication.
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