Paedophile priest Brendan Smyth abused boys at two care homes run by nuns, an inquiry heard Monday.
The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was told today that a religious order accepts that the notorious cleric abused children in their care.
The inquiry’s barrister, Christine Smith QC, said witnesses have alleged they were abused by Smyth in two care homes, Narareth House and Nazareth Lodge, in south and east Belfast.
The homes were run by the Sisters of Nazareth and today the inquiry heard one witness describe the nuns as “sadistic and bullies”.
The HIA inquiry was set up in 2013 to investigate child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995 with a total of 13 Northern Ireland institutions being investigated.
The ‘module’ starting today is focusing on the two Belfast homes and is the single biggest module of the inquiry, in terms of the number of witnesses who have come forward to given evidence.
In her opening remarks, the inquiry’s barrister said the witnesses would also outline allegations of physical abuse, child neglect and a lack of food in the homes.
Ms Smith read from the witness statement one former resident, who lived at Nazareth Lodge from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s.
It said: “Nuns were at best indifferent but more often sadistic and bullies. They were quick to strike out and provided no reassurance or comfort to a small, frightened child.”
Ms Smith added that paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth was active there.
She told the inquiry: “There will be evidence given in this module that he abused children both in Nazareth House and in Nazareth Lodge in Belfast.”
However, she said that another witness who lived at Nazareth Lodge in the late 1950s and 1960s has alleged that he was abused by lay staff and other boys, and that the Sisters of Nazareth provided good care.
It said: “I never had any complaints about the nuns. The nuns were good and I have nothing bad to say about them. They made sacrifices for us. I have missed them since I left Nazareth Lodge.”
A representative of the Sisters of Nazareth has already provided statements of response to some of the allegations, and has accepted that the Belfast priest Fr Brendan Smyth visited both Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge and sexually abused children.
Smyth, who was at the centre of one of the first clerical child sex abuse scandals to rock the Catholic Church in Ireland, was eventually convicted of more than 100 child abuse charges on both sides of the Irish border.
He died in prison in 1997, following a heart attack.
The HIA inquiry’s barrister said 102 witnesses have come forward in relation to Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge.
More than 90 are expected to give evidence over 40 days of hearings at Banbridge Courthouse, Co Down.