It is probably not known that the Irish and British Governments shipped out thousands of children to Australia, Canada, Rhodesia, etc., in the early to late 1900s. Many of these kids were deliberately separated from their parents and siblings, and most were sent to work as slave labour on farms or as domestic servants. Many were told that their parents were dead or didn't want them - when in fact this was an outright lie. Many kids were - like in the Rajneesh / Osho communes - sexually abused &/or raped. Recently the Australian Government has issued a public apology to all of those - now adults - who were transported - and has made some funds available for them to search and visit their birth families. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAS YET TO OFFER ANY APOLOGY.

The worst cases of abuse occurred - surprise surprise - at Catholic orphanages, especially at Christian Brothers establishments.

This is one of hundreds of reports:

Irish religious to fore in Australian abuse scandal

Wed, Nov 18, 2009

ANALYSIS: Many of the children abused in Australia, prompting this week's apology by the prime minister there, came originally from Ireland, writes MARY RAFTERY

THERE IS always one story that haunts you, so graphic and disturbing it is almost too terrible to contemplate.

In over a decade of researching the experiences of people all over the world whose childhoods were destroyed by state-sponsored abuse, one of the worst I came across was that of a small, blue-eyed boy at Tardun, an orphanage in western Australia. He was one of the tens of thousands apologised to on Monday by Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, as that country at last faces up to the savage abuses suffered by so many taken as children into state-funded care.

This boy had been sent to Australia from the UK. He told his story to a British House of Commons select committee established in the late 1990s to investigate the child migrant schemes.

Tardun was one of the more notorious of Australia's 500 or so children's institutions. It had all sorts of Irish connections. It was one of four such institutions run by the Christian Brothers, who were tightly controlled by their Irish leadership, based at the Dublin headquarters in Marino. They even named another of their western Australian institutions Clontarf - it is to be found in Waterford, a suburb of Perth.

Many of the brothers working in the Australian institutions were first generation Irish. These included Br Paul Keaney, the infamous resident manager of Bindoon (another Christian Brothers-run boys' orphanage) up to the 1950s, who was born in Rossinver, Co Leitrim.

Thousands of boys passed through these institutions. Most were Australian, who, like so many Irish children, ended up in care during the middle decades of the 20th century for reasons of poverty and disadvantage.

Thousands of others, however, had been sent from institutions throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the promise of a new life of sunshine and hope. And among these were to be found a surprising number of Irish children, born to Irish mothers fleeing the censorious atmosphere in this country and hoping to keep their pregnancies secret by going to England.

There are no precise figures so far, but it has been estimated that up to a quarter of those sent might have Irish parents.

In 1998, in what remains the most damning picture of Australia's children's institutions, the House of Commons select committee reported that "the worst cases of criminal abuse in Australia appear to have occurred in institutions run by the agencies of the Catholic Church, in particular the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy".

The report went on to say that some of the abuse investigated "was of a quite exceptional depravity, so that terms like 'sexual abuse' are too weak to convey it".

Then comes the indelible account of the blue-eyed boy: "Those of us who heard the account of a man who as a boy was a particular favourite of some Christian Brothers at Tardun who competed as to who could rape him 100 times first, his account of being in terrible pain, bleeding and bewildered, trying to beat his own eyes so they would cease to be blue as the Brothers like his blue eyes, or being forced to masturbate animals, or being held upside down over a well and threatened in case he ever told, will never forget it".

With evidence of this kind coming from a British parliamentary committee, and substantiated over and over again by various Australian senate committee reports, the wonder is that it has taken the Australian government so long to apologise.

The pressure for such an apology has been building for a quarter of a century as thousands of former children in care began to trace their origins and uncover the sordid saga of their forced migration. Many had great difficulty tracking their families throughout Britain, but none more so than those whose mothers turned out to be Irish.

Giving birth in the relative anonymity of a British hospital was regarded by thousand of Irish women as preferable to facing the stigma of an unmarried pregnancy going full term in Ireland and resulting in a birth. Many of these mothers gave up their children to various British-based agencies. In some cases, the babies ended up in state-run children's homes, in others they were given into the care of religious orders. A number were also adopted and fostered.

Their fate was much fought over by self-styled Irish protection and rescue organisations, who patrolled the wards of Liverpool and London maternity hospitals, pleading with Irish mothers to bring their babies home and give them up to religious orders. The idea was to ensure the children would be raised as Catholics. The fact that many of them would end up in Irish industrial schools was of little concern.

Those Irish babies who remained in Britain were usually placed in institutions run by Catholic nuns, principally the Nazareth Sisters. And these institutions in turn provided the bulk of the thousands of Catholic children sent to Australia under a scheme jointly run by the Australian and British governments, which lasted until the late 1960s.

There was a promise that these children, many as young as three years old, would be placed with Australian families who would treat them as their own. This, however, became a reality for very few.

Almost all of the Catholic children were sent immediately to institutions run principally by the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy - the two congregations also most prominent in the management of the Irish industrial schools. Given the scale of migration from the UK, it is at first glance peculiar that there was no similar scheme for children to be shipped out directly from Irish institutions to Australia. That this one misery at least was not visited on the multitude of children in Ireland's industrial schools is thanks largely to Eamon de Valera, according to Alan Gill in his seminal history of child migration, Orphans of the Empire.

In 1938, the head of the Christian Brothers in Australia, Br Louis Conlon, was in the midst of a major and highly successful campaign to increase the number of children (and consequently income by way of grants) being sent from the UK to Australian Catholic institutions. He approached the Irish government, seeking to extend the scheme to Ireland. The response from the cabinet secretary was a terse note to inform him that his suggestion for a child migrant scheme was "not approved". According to Alan Gill, this was "almost certainly based on the personal views of de Valera, who opposed child migration, and indeed migration in general, as a solution to the new State's problems. His supposed "prejudice" in this matter was aired in a gossip column in the Irish Independent, which criticised his stance".

For those Irish children who did end up in Australia, it would seem that the least we as a nation could do for them now would be to provide every assistance, including financial, to allow them to trace their roots and their families. It was we as a society who hounded their unhappy mothers from our shores. We should now open our arms to their children.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mary Raftery is a freelance journalist who, with reporter Mick Peelo, produced and directed the documentary Cardinal Secrets



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2009 03:19AM by SeekingTruth.

A support organisation for those brought up in Irish institutions can be found at:

[www.alliancesupport.org]

ST



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2009 03:25AM by SeekingTruth.

Please sign this petition:

We the undersigned believe that any extra money from the Religious Orders should be used solely to benefit former residents of all of the Institutions for medical, dental and other welfare purposes.

[www.alliancesupport.org]

Reading the comments below is also instructive. The Catholic Church is a CULT and an abusive one.

ST

There seems to have been a lot of abuse going on in children's homes connected with Britain some time after the middle of the last century. For instance, last year brought a major investigation of abuse at a children's home at Haut de la Garenne on the island of Jersey. I looked, but didn't see any reference to it on this forum, so here's one of the news stories from the London Times:

[www.timesonline.co.uk]

Quote


March 2, 2008

Picture: the Jersey 'child abuse cellar' uncovered by police



(From Paul Rogers/The Times)

The bath in the centre of this cellar room has been described by several abuse victims. On a wooden post someone has written: "I have been bad 4 years & years"


David Brown in Jersey

Police investigating a child abuse scandal in Jersey have uncovered the first chamber in a network of alleged “punishment rooms” where some former residents of a children’s home have told police they suffered physical and sexual brutality.

The 12ft-square room at Haut de la Garenne is dominated by a 5ft deep communal bath or animal trough which has been described by many of the victims of abuse from the 1960s to 1986. On a wooden post behind the bath someone has written in black marker: “I’ve been bad 4 years & years”.

Building debris from the conversion of the home into a youth hostel in 2003 litters the floor of the cellar. A pair of shackles found in the room has been removed as evidence.

In the ceiling is the remnant of an improvised trapdoor created so that the cellar complex could be discreetly accessed from the building’s south wing. Much of the ceiling has been removed by the police search team since the cellar was uncovered last week.

Later this week detectives hope to break through to an adjoining chamber which has a suspiciously bricked-up doorway leading from the first room.

The secret torture complex is now believed to contain a total of four chambers. Police believe the cellars were originally have been used to house pigs or other livestock.

Former residents have told detectives that the cellar complex, referred to as “Baintree”, had later been used to punish misbehaving children. Victims have described being lowered into a “deep dark pit” where they were left with other children in a large bath of cold water before being abused at the hands care workers and outsiders.

A similar-sized underground complex could also exist in the building’s north wing, close to where a piece of child’s skull was uncovered last month. Detectives are reviewing the discovery of other bones at the same spot in 2003 which were initially dismissed as coming from an animal.

They will also investigate an underground storage area close to the building’s swimming pool and two, three metre-deep pits in the courtyard. Areas used for detention cells in which former residents also recall being abused will be examined in the main building and the more modern Aviemore wing which accommodated babies and infants.

Investigations into claims of abuse at the home started in 2003 when a former resident of Haut de La Garenne was convicted of blackmailing a care worker by threatening to expose him as a paedophile. The investigation has been widened to include organised abuse at the Greenfield’s children’s home and the Sea Cadet force which used Haut de La Garenne.

Detectives confirmed today that the investigation has received reports of abuse committed in recent months.

A police spokesman said: “There was an offence committed late last year which is being dealt with. It is not related to offences committed at the home [Haur de la Garenne].”

A leading member of Jersey’s post-war political establishment was confirmed by police today as having been named as an abuser. Living members of the island’s establishment have also been identified as suspects but cannot be named for legal reasons.

Wilfred Krichefski, a senator in Jersey’s government and chair of several committees, allegedly regularly visited Haut de La Garenne to abuse boys un until his death in 1974.

One ex-resident has claimed he was repeatedly raped at the children’s home aged 12 by Mr Krichefski between 1962 and 1963.

The man, now aged in his late 50s and living in the West Midlands, said that every month he and another boy would be taken into a back room at the home and abused by two men.

The former resident said he would be woken by a care worker with the words “There is someone here to see you”. He was presented to his abuser with the words “Here’s a boy for you, sir.” The alleged victim man said: “That man raped me and did despicable acts. I know he is dead but people need to know what he was really like.” “He said: ’I’m going to teach you to be a good boy. You’ve been wicked and no one wants you. Your parents don’t want you - that’s why you’re here.’” The only person he told about the abuse was a psychiatrist on the island who warned that if he repeated the allegation he would be placed in a mental hospital.

Mr Krichefski ran a leading Jersey clothing store and was founding managing director of ITV’s Channel Television. He was awarded an OBE in 1958.

Lenny Harper, the deputy chief officer, said: “It is a name that we have been given and our investigation continues.

Googling around should uncover several news accounts on this scandal alone.

Child abuse victims of Irish clergy to be paid £145million

[www.thisislondon.co.uk]

The Catholic Christian Brothers today promised £145million in cash and land in compensation to victims of child abuse by Irish clergy.

It comes six months after the Ryan Report exposed the sexual and physical abuse of tens of thousands of children in Catholic institutions over six decades.

The report, which took nine years to complete, revealed that Church leaders and government watchdogs covered up abuse to protect their reputations.

Today the Christian Brothers, which ran many of the schools and orphanages, promised £27million to an Irish government trust along with £3.6million for counselling services.

School playing fields worth €127million will be transferred to the state and the Edmund Rice Schools Trust - a lay body which took control of the Brothers' schools last year.

In a statement, the Christian Brothers said it hoped the package would help support former residents of church-run institutions.

"The range of incremental measures outlined above follow the Christian Brothers' acceptance, shame and sorrow at the findings of the Ryan Report," it said.

"We understand and regret that nothing we say or do can turn back the clock for those affected by abuse.

"Our fervent hope is that the initiatives now proposed will assist in the provision of support services to former residents of the institutions."

A separate investigation exposing child sex abuse by Catholic priests in the Dublin archdiocese is to be published tomorrow.

The Commission of Inquiry into the archdiocese has examined allegations against a sample 46 priests.

The report will be censored in parts so as not to prejudice criminal cases.

Irish Catholic Church accused of abuse cover-up

[news.bbc.co.uk]

Four archbishops turned a blind eye to abuse

A damning report into clerical child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for covering up the abuse.

The report investigated how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests.

It found that the Church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care.

It also said that state authorities facilitated the cover-up by allowing the Church to operate outside the law.

The "Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin" covered a period from 1975 to 2004.

It has laid bare a culture of concealment where church leaders prioritised the protection of their own institution above that of vulnerable children in their care.

Victims

The report said the avoidance of public outrage, which would inevitably follow high-profile prosecutions, appeared more important than preventing abusers from repeating their crimes.


Victim Marie Collins: "This is the end of a very long road"
Instead of reporting the allegations to civic authorities, those accused of horrific crimes were systematically shuffled from parish to parish where they could prey on new, unsuspecting victims.

The report stated: "The Dublin archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets."

It also said that the archdiocese "did its best to avoid any application of the law of the state".

It found that four archbishops - John Charles McQuaid who died in 1973, Dermot Ryan who died in 1984, Kevin McNamara who died in 1987, and retired Cardinal Desmond Connell - did not hand over information on abusers.

The report said that authorities in the Dublin archdiocese who were dealing with complaints of child sexual abuse "were all very well educated people".

It added that, considering many of them had qualifications in canon law, and in some cases civil law, their claims of ignorance were "very difficult to accept".

Above the law

Civic authorities in Ireland, especially the police, were also criticised for their cosy relationship with the Church.

The report states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims some police officers reported abuse complaints to Church authorities instead of carrying out their own investigation.

The commissioner of the Irish police, Fachtna Murphy, said it made for "difficult and disturbing reading, detailing as it does many instances of sexual abuse and failure on the part of both Church and State authorities to protect victims".

He added: "The commission has found that in some cases, because of acts or omissions, individuals who sought assistance did not always receive the level of response or protection which any citizen in trouble is entitled to expect from An Garda Síochána (the Irish police).

He said he was "deeply sorry" for the failures.

The Commission's work concentrated on a "representative sample" of complaints made by 320 children against 46 priests, 11 of whom were convicted of sexual assaults on children.

The number of complaints of abuse made by boys was more than double those submitted by girls.

The Commission said it was satisfied that "effective structures and procedures currently in operation" and that all complaints of clerical child sexual abuse are now reported to police.

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 2000 with functions including the
investigation of abuse of children in institutions in the State. It was dependent on people giving
evidence which they did in large numbers. The Commission expresses its gratitude to all those
who participated and contributed with their testimony and documents. The witnesses who came
to the Confidential and the Investigation Committees ensured that the Inquiry had sufficient
information to investigate the difficult issues that it was mandated to explore. The Commission
was impressed by the dignity, courage and fortitude of witnesses who endeavoured to recall
events that had happened many years ago.

This Report should give rise to debate and reflection. Although institutional care belongs to a
different era, many of the lessons to be learned from what happened have contemporary
applications for the protection of vulnerable people in our society.

This is the report:

[news.bbc.co.uk]

It makes horrifying reading ...

I saw another version of this Irish report in today's UK Daily Mail, with a few more details. This kind of scandal is pretty old news in the U.S., but seems to have taken longer to come to the surface in Ireland.

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Quote

Irish Catholic Church 'covered up' sickening catalogue of child abuse by paedophile priests

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:13 PM on 26th November 2009

The Catholic hierarchy in Ireland was granted immunity to cover up child sex abuse among paedophile priests in Dublin, a damning report revealed today.

Authorities enjoyed a cosy relationship with the Church and did not enforce the law as four archbishops, obsessed with secrecy and avoiding scandal, protected abusers and reputations at all costs.

Hundreds of crimes against defenceless children from the 1960s to the 1990s were not reported while gardai treated clergy as though they were above the law.

In a three-year inquiry, the Commission to Inquire into the Dublin Archdiocese uncovered a sickening tactic of 'don't ask, don't tell' throughout the Church.

'The Commission has no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other Church authorities,' it said.

'The structures and rules of the Catholic Church facilitated that cover-up.

'The State authorities facilitated that cover-up by not fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and allowing the Church institutions to be beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement processes.'

Four archbishops - John Charles McQuaid who died in 1973, Dermot Ryan who died in 1984, Kevin McNamara who died in 1987, and retired Cardinal Desmond Connell - did not hand over information on abusers.

The first files were handed over by the Cardinal in 1995 but even then he had records of complaints against at least 28 priests.

The primary loyalty of bishops and archbishops is to the Church, the report said.

Bishop James Kavanagh, Bishop Dermot O'Mahony, Bishop Laurence Forristal, Bishop Donal Murray and disgraced Bishop Brendan Comiskey, a reformed alcoholic who failed to control paedophile priests when in charge of the Ferns Diocese, all knew about child abuse for many years.

The inquiry, headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy, said the hierarchy cannot claim they did not know that child sex abuse was a crime.

Cardinal Connell was credited for instigating two secret canon law trials which took place over the 30-year period and led to two priests being defrocked.

Monsignor Gerard Sheehy, a powerful figure in the Catholic Archdiocese, one of the largest in Europe, fought to prevent the internal prosecutions.

Religious orders, for example the Columbans, had clear knowledge of complaints dating back to the early 1970s.

Parts of the 700-page report have been censored to prevent pending or potential prosecutions of abusers being prejudiced with references to two priests, and one of the cleric's brothers, removed.

While the Dublin Archdiocese inquiry found no evidence of a paedophile ring, some of the most shocking findings included:

* One priest admitted sexually abusing more than 100 children;

* Another accepted he abused on a fortnightly basis during his 25-year ministry;

* One complaint was made against a priest who later admitted abusing at least six other children;

* It took gardai 20 years to decide on a prosecution of one priest.

The inquiry said it uncovered inappropriate contacts between authorities and the Archdiocese.

Allegations were made against one priest, known as Fr Edmondus, but Garda Commissioner Daniel Costigan handed the case to Archbishop McQuaid and took no other action.

The inquiry also warned of inappropriate relations between some senior gardai and priests in two other cases.

'A number of very senior members of the gardai, including the Commissioner (Costigan) in 1960, clearly regarded priests as being outside their remit,' the report said.

'There are some examples of gardai actually reporting complaints to the Archdiocese instead of investigating them.

'It is fortunate that some junior members of the force did not take the same view.'

The inquiry, which was looking at a sample of 46 priests dating back to 1975 but took its review back as far as the 1940s, outlined an insurance scheme for victims set up by the Archdiocese in 1987.

Church files show at the time Archbishops McNamara, Ryan and McQuaid had, between them, information on complaints against at least 17 priests.

The Commission said it proved the hierarchy knew the sex abuse scandals would cost the Church dearly.

'The taking out of insurance was proving knowledge of child sex abuse as a major cost to the Archdiocese and is inconsistent with the view that archdiocesan officials were still 'on a learning curve' at a much later date, or were lacking in an appreciation of the phenomenon of clerical child sex abuse,' it said.

The Archdiocese was pre-occupied until the mid-1990s with maintaining secrecy, avoiding scandal, protecting the reputation of the Church and preservation of assets.

All other concerns, including the damage done to young victims, came second, the report said.

'The welfare of the children, which should have been the first priority, was not even a factor to be considered in the early days,' the Commission said.

One of the points made during the press conference with the victims - now grown up - but still traumatised from their personal experiences - was that the abuse and denial was deeply rooted in the Catholic Church. Someone then asked what about the rest of Ireland, and the North of Ireland. And the reply was that the pattern of abuse must have been the same since it is the same church and religious institutions that perpetrated these atrocities - and therefore the abuse must have been (and very likely still is) AROUND THE WORLD.

So we have had the abuse in Dublin investigated. And also that in Southern Ireland, Australia and the UK. But what about the Catholic missions around the world? What about other countries in Europe - Belgian and Portugal are not squeaky clean when it come to paedophiles in high places. What about remote settlements in say Africa? If the abuse was (and maybe still is) so intense in Dublin, it is obvious that similar abuse must have taken place in just about EVERY Catholic run community world-wide. I think as bad as Dublin is - it is only the tip of the iceberg. And I would opine that the abuse goes right up to the hierachy of the Vatican.

The Catholic religion is a self serving cult populated by paedophiles.

These stories are shocking. Some of the comments are hypocritical.
Of course there are exceptions. As a student I was fascinated by the work of Father Flanagan. Than I studied at the U of Michigan and took part in the "Fresh Air Camp", a program for training od students and taking care of emotionally disturbed children from various backgrounds. Than I went back to Germany and started to work in the Jugendamt, the office in charge of supervising problem families and placing children. If the family situation was really impossible, horrible, risking the physical well being or even life of children, we had to do something. There was one good, city sponsored institution with sort of families for the children. The waiting list was 2 years. There also was a good institution run along Waldorf school principles, similar situation. The rest, and among them catholic institutions operatedd by nuns or monks, were horrible. You on't need chambers of torture, the whole institution was a chamber of torture, with iron discipline inflected on already disturbed children. The very cruelty of trhis impersonal style of disciplinairian inhumaty is abuse. Of course, we would not know about systematic occurance of sexual abuse, which is anyhow a criome - I knw two priests who had been put to jail because of secual contacts with boys . - Being the most junior member, but full of humanitarian ideas, I created several times an upheaval in the team. Everyday, each of us had to diagnose 2 children and make a recommendation to the juvenile court.
Waht did I do? I decided to walk away, taking up another job as psycholigist, where I would not be confronted on a daily basis with decisions, which were dictated by powerlessness. For sure, we did know, that sending children to these institutions, catholic or otherwise, would be worse than sending them to prison.
This is decades ago. My daughter, who has no children of her own, has taken two children, who were abused by their grandfather - fathers are unknown. My daughter accomplished a great job to socialize these children, who are about to complete secondary school know - a great joy also their grandfather. One year - my daugher had difficulties with her husband - she worked in one of these exceptional institutions, a children village run by Dominican sisters close to Cologne. She was in charge of a family of 8 children, including her 2 own, which had been adopted in the meantime. I stayed for some time with her and immediatly realized, that this institution with about 120 children, was missing a father figure. Even as grandfather, I could give a little hand in talking with the boys and girls. To the greatest regret of the sisters, my daughter returned to her husband and is now working with a catholic network, which is organizing and supervising foster homes. She has a little sunshine, duaghter of two drug addicts. The girl is howver very restless and requires a lot of attention. Now she has also twins, who have been pushed around so much, that there emotional demands go beyond the capacity of my daughter, who only has a help for 20 hours a week. If she has to give up on these two boys, what will happen? The network is charged by the number of children, which the Jugendamt wants to place with them.
Than again, these disciplinary torture institutions, state run or catholic, will have to be approached.
I suppose, if one works for years in such institutions, with insufficient and often poorly qualified personnel, you have to turn your heart to stone. If you turn perverse in a perverse situation, don't be surprised.
Of course I am shocked, that religious communities, like the Christian brothers are unable to monitor their institutions. Kick the abusers out, put the pedophile to prison, and than, run the situation with whom?
Anyone, who decides to devote his life to care for children, should be respected, no matter of his motivation, regligious or otherwise humanitarian. Do not condemn them together with those, who be motivation to abuse or in the process of being hardened by their failures turn to be become abusers, joined the same profession.
The revelations, as horrible as they are, would becopme even more horrible, if they would turn away people with a genuine desire to help, if they would withdraw money from the institutions, which have to help those abandoned children. And than, think for a moment about the devastating effect of families falling apart in our valueless society, putting their offspring to the mery or to the greed of people and institutions, who are supposed to clean up the mess.
Villager