Reports of child abuse by English clergy in 5, 4, 3, 2.......

[hedgehog]

On his first full day in the job, however, Vin Nichols already finds himself in a spat.

In interviews on the eve of his enthronement, the new head of the English church responded to Wednesday's release of the "very distressing and disturbing" Irish report on abuse in church-run residential and industrial schools.

After first sending his "heart out" to the victims whose "stories are now told in public," Nichols said he was likewise thinking "of those in religious orders and some of the clergy in Dublin who have to face these facts from their past, which instinctively and quite naturally they'd rather not look at.
In response, the archbishop of Dublin launched an "unprecedented rebuke" across the Irish Sea:

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin described as "unhelpful" comments made by the new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols.

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/


more info here:

http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/05/martin-rebukes-bishop-over-child-abuse.html


The abuse documented in the Ryan report differs from what happened in America in that it was institutionalized. While it wasn't publicly discussed for years, it was an open secret that children were being tortured in various orphanages and reform schools. Another difference is that this abuse was specifically aimed at poor kids who ran afoul of the law, local standards or just had no protection from family and friends.

I think the new Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is about to learn a lesson on the hazards of hubris. I doubt very much that somehow priests and sisters abused children all over the world except in the UK.

[Matilda]

1. Given that the Church was dragged kicking and screaming into this enquiry,

the Archbishop's comment is at best disingenuous, and at worst plain stupid. Just what the Church needs - another
Archbishop who suffers from foot in mouth disease.

The Christian Brothers won a Court order stipulating that the names of all abusive brothers in the Order were to be
suppressed, so that means that no individuals can be charged. The Church is also paying only about 10% of the
money due in compensation to the victims. Once again, the offenders get off while the victims suffer for the rest
of their lives - and somebody else will pay the bill.

When are they ever going to learn that all their efforts at suppression, doubtless an attempt to save the good name
of the Church, in fact loses them more souls with every revelation that comes out?

Their behavious is an abuse of power of the worst kind, and has nothing to do with the teachings of Our Lord.

[hedgehog]

2. I am jsut flabbergasted. Everyone knew it was bad, and everyone had heard

stories about the Christian Brothers beating on kids (I had a great uncle who dropped out of school because he was a target of beatings) but I don't know if anyone realized it was so pervasive and institutionalized! This wasn't a couple guys misbehaving and having their activities covered up. The physical and emotional abuse of children was standard operating procedure!


I would like to know how this happened. Edmund Rice didn't wake up one morning and decide to found an order of men dedicated to beating children. Where did the Christian Brothers go off the rails?

[Matilda]

3. It's a strange thing,

but although this kind of systemic abuse wasn't limited to the Irish clergy, they certainly took it to new heights,
and it seems to have been far more widespread in those who were part of Irish religious communities, whether in
Ireland or amongst those who taught in the British colonies and the US.

It doesn't seem to have been as endemic in European communities, so just what was it that encouraged Irish-trained
religious teachers to assume that what they did was part of teaching the love of Christ? And how - in the name of
God - did the bishops and cardinals who lied and covered up the truth persuade themselves that they were doing the
right thing?

There are some here who are calling for a similar investigation to take place in Australia, and I think it would be
justified, from the stories I've heard. And once again, the Christian Brothers are generally held to be the worst,
although by no means the only, abusers.

[hedgehog]

4. I've never done a careful study, but I've heard references to the Jansenist

heresy contaminating Irish Catholicism over and over. IMO, with the increasing rejection of Vatican II by the hierarchy, we're seeing a resurgence of Jansenism.