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MEDIA RELEASE – MARCH 11, 2017
Road to Recovery
March 11, 2017
http://www.road-to-recovery.org/
Discovery of “mass baby grave” behind nuns’ convent and residence for women and babies in Tuam, Galway, Ireland, demands a reassessment of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations throughout the world, especially in New York City
The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has rejected a request by Road to Recovery, Inc., to enter a contingent of marchers in the March 17, 2017, parade in order to honor the deceased babies who were recently found in a mass grave in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
Parade President and Director, Dr. John Lahey, and New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan must honor and reverence the deceased babies of Galway and all of Ireland by asking marchers and others to demonstrate their sadness and horror with a gesture of solidarity (such as wearing black armbands) and ordering Catholic parishes and institutions to schedule memorial services
What A gathering of abuse survivors, advocates, concerned Catholics, and the general public to memorialize and reverence the deceased babies, toddlers, and infants from the “mass grave” uncovered behind the Bon Secours sisters’ home and convent in County Galway, Ireland, and to call on St. Patrick’s Parade Committee President and Director, Dr. John Lahey, and Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan to ask marchers to express their solidarity with the deceased babies and their families with an outward gesture or ritual which respects and memorializes the deceased children and their families
When Sunday, March 12, 2017 at from 10:00 AM until Noon
Where On the public sidewalk outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue and East 50th Street, Manhattan, NYC, 10022
Who Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.; victim/survivors of clergy and religious sexual abuse; concerned Catholics and citizens
Why The recent unearthing of what officials called “significant quantities of human remains” in a mass grave located behind the former St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, is horrific, outrageous, and unacceptable. Further disturbing information indicated that the remains were located in a chamber that was part of or very near to a septic tank. It is believed that the remains of upwards of 8,000 babies will be uncovered in mass graves located at Catholic facilities for women and babies throughout Ireland. In light of this astounding and troubling information, clergy and religious abuse victims and their supporters will call upon leaders of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City, the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, to “tone down” the 2017 parade celebration by expressing their compassion for the victims and their families through a public gesture during the parade and recommending the scheduling of memorial services in Catholic parishes and institutions throughout the Archdiocese of New York and the United States of America.
Contact Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
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