BBC News
June 11, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8094841.stm
A two-day debate on abuse in institutions run by religious orders has begun in the Dáil.
Over 2,000 people told the Ryan Commission they were either sexually or physically abused.
It happened in a network of reformatories, industrial schools and workhouses up to the 1980s.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Ryan Commission "shone a powerful light into probably the darkest corner of the history of the state".
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"What has been revealed must be the source of the deepest shame for all of us. Children in the care of the state were physically, emotionally, and in many cases sexually abused," said Mr Cowen.
"Our state and our systems failed to hear their cries or come to their help."
Ireland's Catholic Bishops have called the report "the most recent disturbing indictment of a culture that was prevalent for far too long".
Following their three-day summer meeting in Maynooth, they said in a statement on Wednesday: "Heinous crimes were perpetrated against the most innocent and vulnerable, and vile acts with life-lasting effects were carried out under the guise of the mission of Jesus Christ."
The bishops branded the abuse described in the Ryan Commission's report as "a serious betrayal of trust ... placed in the Church".
They also asked for forgiveness, saying their "people" had "strayed so far from their Christian ideals".
Earlier this week, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said Pope Benedict had been "visibly upset" when he heard details of the report.
Archbishop Martin met the Pope along with Catholic Primate Seán Brady at the Vatican last Friday.
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