Report exposes 'endemic' abuse of Irish children
DUBLIN (AFP) - Sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' homes in Ireland and church leaders turned a blind eye to it, according to a report Wednesday on mistreatment in church-run institutions dating back to the 1930s.
The head of the Catholic church in Ireland said he was "profoundly sorry" after publication of the 2,500-page report, which said there was a "culture of silence" among authorities about abuse in the state-funded homes.
"Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from," said the report, the result of a nine-year probe. "A climate of fear... permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys."
The largest-ever probe into Irish religious orders found abusers could "operate undetected for long periods at the core of institutions," while victims were sometimes blamed as having been corrupted and "punished severely."
"Sexual abuse was endemic in boys? institutions," said the long-awaited official report, concluding: "Sexual abuse was known to religious authorities to be a persistent problem in male religious organisations."
It added: "Sexual abuse by members of religious Orders was seldom brought to the attention of the Department of Education by religious authorities because of a culture of silence about the issue."
Since 2000 the government-appointed Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has been probing allegations of sexual and physical abuse in reform schools, workhouses, orphanages, children's homes and other childcare institutions.
Report exposes 'endemic' abuse of Irish children - Yahoo! Canada News
Shades of Mount Cashel.
How much more of this type of behaviour do we have to expose before we put these criminals where they belong? Instead of jail these priests will get "rehabilitated' according to church regulations. How can they hide behind the cloth and get away with this crap? As long as the head of the church comes out and says we are "profoundly sorry" then everything is ok? That's seriously messed up.
DUBLIN (AFP) - Sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' homes in Ireland and church leaders turned a blind eye to it, according to a report Wednesday on mistreatment in church-run institutions dating back to the 1930s.
The head of the Catholic church in Ireland said he was "profoundly sorry" after publication of the 2,500-page report, which said there was a "culture of silence" among authorities about abuse in the state-funded homes.
"Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from," said the report, the result of a nine-year probe. "A climate of fear... permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys."
The largest-ever probe into Irish religious orders found abusers could "operate undetected for long periods at the core of institutions," while victims were sometimes blamed as having been corrupted and "punished severely."
"Sexual abuse was endemic in boys? institutions," said the long-awaited official report, concluding: "Sexual abuse was known to religious authorities to be a persistent problem in male religious organisations."
It added: "Sexual abuse by members of religious Orders was seldom brought to the attention of the Department of Education by religious authorities because of a culture of silence about the issue."
Since 2000 the government-appointed Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has been probing allegations of sexual and physical abuse in reform schools, workhouses, orphanages, children's homes and other childcare institutions.
Report exposes 'endemic' abuse of Irish children - Yahoo! Canada News
Shades of Mount Cashel.
How much more of this type of behaviour do we have to expose before we put these criminals where they belong? Instead of jail these priests will get "rehabilitated' according to church regulations. How can they hide behind the cloth and get away with this crap? As long as the head of the church comes out and says we are "profoundly sorry" then everything is ok? That's seriously messed up.