Ireland's Holocaust?

The sex abuse scandal in Ireland is starting to be termed a "holocaust" which in this humble blogger's opinion is a bit much and a bit condescending to our Jewish brothers and sisters. But nonetheless, it is a huge tragedy and has seriously damaged and abused far too many children. The Pope weighed in with Ireland's two senior clerics who reported his thoghts.

From Independent.ie

POPE Benedict was "visibly upset" by horrific revelations of sexual, physical and emotional torture of children uncovered by the Ryan inquiry, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin revealed yesterday.

The Pontiff also told Ireland's two most senior Catholic clerics that the victims of abuse must get justice.

In a Vatican meeting with Cardinal Brady and Archbishop Martin last Friday, Pope Benedict reiterated his call for the Church hierarchy to make amends to the thousands of children who suffered at the hands of abusive priests, brothers and nuns.

"He (the Pope) was very visibly upset to hear of some of the things told in the Ryan report and how the children had suffered from the very opposite of the expression of a love of God," the Archbishop said.

a h/t to Whispers.

18 Irish Religious Orders Pay Up

Shocking news from Ireland as the 18 Irish religious orders implicated in decades of abuse of thousands of children in their care have agreed to increase their contribution to the compensation fund for victims.

CNS notes:

A report released May 20 by the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse said a climate of fear created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment permeated most of Ireland's residential care institutions for children and all those run for boys from 1940 through the 1970s. These residential institutions, funded by the state but often run by Catholic religious orders, included schools, orphanages, hospitals, children's homes or any other institutions where children were in the care of nonfamily members.

Describing the meeting of the government and religious leaders as "very good," Minister for Education and Science Batt O'Keefe told RTE radio: "We are pleased that they have agreed with the three principles outlined by the government -- that a further substantial contribution will be made, agreement that a trust (to compensate and support victims) will be put in place and that the evaluation (of the congregations' assets) will be open and transparent."

All 18 congregations were represented at the meeting, which was also attended by O'Keefe; justice minister Dermot Ahern; social welfare minister Mary Hanafin; and Barry Andrews, minister for children and youth affairs.

A h/t to the Deacon

Reuters also reported a few weeks back that:

DUBLIN - Victims of sexual abuse and neglect in Catholic-run schools and orphanages in Ireland swamped counseling services on Thursday after the publication of the harrowing findings of a nine-year investigation.

“We’ve had 30 times as many calls as usual and our phone lines are always quite busy,” said Bernadette Fahy of the Aislinn Center, an organization set up by an abuse victim. “We have had to close the center because we haven’t been able to cope with the amount of people coming in.

“It’s extraordinary the number of people who are contacting services for the first time.”

Irish Sex abuse Scandal: Treated like "brute animals"

From the Catholic Review and a h/t to Deacon Greg:

– At Goldenbridge Industrial School in Dublin, children who had been taken away from their parents would regularly wet their beds; for this, the Sisters of Mercy beat them on their hands and buttocks. Children who had wet their bed were obliged to wait on a landing for their punishments, and one complainant said that this waiting was worse than the actual beatings. In an attempt to stop bed-wetting, the sisters would not give water to some children in the evening, so some children would drink from toilet bowls to assuage their thirst.

– At Artane Industrial School in Dublin, one boy who soiled himself was forced to eat his own feces by a Christian Brother, who admitted the incident in his evidence to the commission.

– In 1944, an inspection of St Michael’s Industrial School, run by the Sisters of Mercy in Cappoquin, found children living in overcrowded conditions and on a semi-starvation diet. A doctor found that, of 75 boys, 61 were under the normal weight for their age-height groups by 3-21 pounds.

– In the 1980s, children in Cappoquin were left in the care of an alcoholic nun, who was regularly drunk on duty, who beat children regularly and who would take a girl to bed with her every night.

– In 1950, the bishop of Galway wrote to the Christian Brothers about one of their employees at Salthill Industrial School whom he said was beating boys severely. The bishop wrote that the man’s “methods would evoke indignation if they were directed against brute animals.”

– In 1944, St. Anne’s Reformatory School in Kilmacud, outside Dublin, was established to accommodate girls who were considered a risk to other children because of sexual experiences. Girls as young as 8 who had been raped or abused, or even those children in contact with such girls, were considered unsuitable for an ordinary industrial school and were sent to St. Anne’s.

Is it any wonder that people think Catholics are a bunch of hypocrites? And anyone who knows anything about Ireland can tell you that the church hardly holds any relevance there anymore for people. A friend recently went to Ireland to do a workshop on young adult ministry and he said: "When I got back to the United States I literally kissed the ground I walk on."

I would say that when I was in Ireland, the clergy seem saddened and standoffish. But not because they are mean themselves, no. They are afraid and unwelcomed by their parishioners now. I went to the parish my dad was baptized in and the priest seemed to be waiting until everyone left before he went outside. I caught up with him and he seemed happy to find someone from the states. A justified reaction from the laity, perhaps, but also one that is unfair to those who are not abusers and who hope to give their life in service to others.

Today as our prayer: Let us remember those who have been abused in Ireland and all over the world but let us remember that priests are not all abusers and that not everyone should bear the brunt of the sins of their brothers and sisters. Amen.