All those surprised to learn that the Catholic Church in Ireland was running a Dickensian education system, show me your palms so I can whack them with a ruler. Seriously, even Dickens didn't depict Oliver Twist as being sexually abused.
A 2,600 page report released by The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has finally brought to light one of the most egregious conspiracies ever designed. The Irish Department of Education and the Catholic Church in Ireland formed an unholy alliance in the 30's to "educate" troubled, delinquent and orphaned children. From 1930 to 1990 the children confined in these institutions were systematically abused both sexually and emotionally. The statistical information is shattering. More than 200 facilities were involved. 800 clergy (priests, brothers and nuns) and lay personal have been implicated. Over 1,700 victims have given testimony regarding the deplorable treatment received at the hands of those entrusted with their care.
No one educated by Catholic religious orders in America is a stranger to corporal punishment. In the Archdiocese of New York, the Irish Christian Brothers were legendary among high school students as disciplinarians. However, a crack on the back of the head for horsing around in class is a far cry from the sort of continuous, brutal treatment visited upon the kids in Ireland.
As usual, those honorable souls in the Vatican are running for cover. Having suborned and protected abusers for fifty years in America, the bishops in Rome are well practiced in covering their collective flanks. No doubt this recent revelation will all be passed off as ancient history. The Church will issue a press release condemning the sins of the past and congratulating themselves for closing the offending institutions...75 years too late. Rev. Vincent Nichols, head of Catholics in England and Wales, has publicly raised the clueless quotient to new heights by proclaiming, "The clergy who admitted abusing children are courageous for facing up to their past." Makes you believe that chutzpah is really Latin for "cleric".
For as heinous as these revelations are, the Church in Ireland is still up to its roman collar in a cover-up. According to an agreement signed by the investigating Commission and the Irish Christian Brothers, the Commission is prohibited from releasing the names of any of the offenders. Excuse me but these aren't misdemeanors here. These are predator felonies. Being dead is no protection from justice. The thousands of former students/inmates deserve closure. The fact that anyone in authority in Ireland is making deals with the very conspirators being investigated is beneath contempt.
The Commission's report uses the word "endemic" to describe the pattern of abuse. Although the Christian Brothers were the biggest offenders, it is clear that the entire system was replete with abusers. The Government in Dublin was only too happy to let the Church handle their troubled youth issues. If a few kids were raped or emotionally scarred, well it serves them right for being confined in the first place. The report by the Commission sounded almost relieved to reveal that the rape cases were mostly among the boys. I guess we are to be mollified that the girls were only slapped around and humiliated.
This story will be in the headlines for a week or so but it will never garner the indignation it deserves. The Catholic Church has lied, obfuscated, stone-walled and minimized its responsibility in abuse cases since the subject surfaced in America about ten years ago. Since then, Cardinal Bernard Law, the world's best known pedophile enabler, is still wearing his red cardinal's dress and still working in Rome. The American Council of Bishops has yet to initiate a single reform or speak publicly on systematic child abuse unless it is to respond to a specific charge. They wouldn't respond if the request came in an envelope from Fatima.
As an organization whose first responsibility is to its flock, the Church in Rome has responded to this cancer as if they were the Mafia, where omerta still rules. Rather than confront their demons, the Vatican has attempted to protect its reputation and treasure with meaningless apologies and misdirection. If Jesus were alive, he would sue to have his likeness removed from every Catholic Church. Even the Almighty has a gag reflex.
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