Jul

10

Papal apologies are all well and good – now is the time for action

Filed Under Child Abuse | 29 Comments

The Irish Times – Tuesday, July 6, 2010

FR ROBERT HOATSON

RITE & REASON: If clerical abuse victims are to recover, the Vatican must heed this five-point plan

THE POPE has apologised to victims of clergy sexual abuse in face-to-face meetings in Washington DC, Malta, and Australia, and in speeches in a number of places, including at a rally for priests recently in St Peter’s Square. While apologies are all well and good, the pope must now develop an action plan to meet the recovery needs of victims.

When my priest colleague Fr Ken Lasch and I realised in 2003 that little or nothing was being done to meet the diverse needs of victims of clergy sexual abuse, we embarked on the establishment of Road to Recovery, Inc.

It is a New Jersey-based charity that offers assistance of all sorts to help victims of clergy sexual abuse survive and recover. Road to Recovery helps victims pay their rents, mortgages, utility and other bills, and allocates funds for medicine, food and clothing, and a host of other needs that victims of clergy sexual abuse have.

Now that Pope Benedict has apologised profusely on a number of occasions, we at Road to Recovery would like him to consider the following five-point proposal that would go far in helping those who have survived clergy sexual abuse.

What is proposed below is an all-out assault on shame, guilt, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, and all other effects of clergy sexual abuse. And Fr Ken and I offer our experience and expertise to the pope as he implements these steps, for we have worked with more than 1,000 victims and their families during the past seven years.

We propose that Pope Benedict and the Vatican:

1) Hold a media event at which Pope Benedict calls forth from silence and shame any and all victims of clergy sexual abuse with the blanket assurance that they will be taken care of;

2) Refer all victims to panels of independent lay Catholics and non-Catholics who can properly assess the damage to and needs of the survivors. In addition, victims’ family members will be assessed for damage as well – clergy sexual abuse affects entire families;

3) Establish in every diocese and/or region of the world Centres for Restorative Healing. These centres will be comprehensive in-patient and out-patient medical and social service facilities, meeting the needs of survivors in the areas of housing, medicine, psychological counselling, food and clothing, education, career counselling, and whatever else the victims need;

4) All facilities will be paid for by the Roman Catholic Church and will remain open and operational until every last victim is restored to health. Victims will never be turned away from or denied services for as long as they live;

5) Use the resources and experience of Road to Recovery of the US to advise the Vatican in the establishment of a comprehensive programme of healing for victims. Victims of clergy sexual abuse live in terror, turmoil, and torment every day of their lives.

In most cases their souls were murdered by men and women who represented God.

It is time the church placed these individuals and their families at the top of the list of priorities. No longer should a survivor have to worry about where his or her next meal will come from, how the household bills will be paid, how to fend off the latest panic or anxiety attack, or how to cope with nightmares and depression.

There will always be time for apologies but apologies are just words. The Vatican can demonstrate its apology by getting to work and giving victims what they need to heal.

The time for healing is now.

Fr Robert M Hoatson, PhD, is co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, Inc, a non-profit charity serving clergy abuse survivors. It is based in West Orange, New Jersey. He is at rmhoatson1@msn.com. The website is: road-to-recovery.org

Jun

22

Lord Mayor’s Statement on abuse suffered by Children in Residential Institutions

Filed Under Child Abuse, RYAN REPORT - Institutional Abuse of Children in Care | 16 Comments

Press Statement 17th June 2010.

Lord Mayor’s Statement on abuse suffered by Children in Residential Institutions.

At its meeting on 14th June 2010, Dublin City Council debated the findings of recent reports on the issue of the abuse suffered by children in this country. Cllr. Mannix Flynn put forward the motion and also called on the Lord Mayor to issue a public statement, acknowledging that the abuse had happened, and expressing sorrow and regret at what had happened to children at the hands of the church and the state. Cllr. Flynn read a statement into the record covering the issue of child abuse in general, with reference to the findings of the Murphy, Ryan and Ferns Reports. “Finally after decades everybody accepts that what happened to thousands of children was awful. But it wasn’t just awful, it was criminal and so far the only people who have been criminalised in this whole sorry tale are those children sent by the courts to these institutions and that’s simply not good enough”, said Cllr. Flynn.

He also called on fellow Councillors to lend their support for a new Charter for Children and a new Bill of Rights. The ensuing debate involved several Councillors, all of whom expressed their solidarity with the victims of abuse in childhood. The Lord Mayor commented that the debate was extremely moving and that the sentiments expressed by Cllr. Flynn had resonated throughout the Council Chamber, evidenced by the expressions of support given by his fellow Councillors and Management, who expressed their regret and sorrow at what had happened most especially to children who were criminalised and incarcerated under the Non-Attendance of School Act. The Lord Mayor stated that she fully supported and endorsed Cllr. Flynn’s motion, which was unanimously carried, and formally read it into the record of the City Council. She expressed her deep concern and regret at the abusive treatment to which children had been subjected, and emphasised the necessity to bring the perpetrators of these appalling crimes to justice. She added that the City Council would facilitate, where possible, the provision of relevant minutes of School Attendance Board Meetings through an archivist’s report, while respecting the sensitivities of the victims involved.

Ends.

For further information – please contact Lord Mayor, Cllr. Emer Costello at Tel: 086 3831805 or Cllr. Mannix Flynn at Tel: 087-2246664

Note to Editor

FULL TEXT OF MOTION – COUNCILLOR MANNIX FLYNN

That this Committee calls on the Lord Mayor, Councillor Emer Costello to issue a statement in relation to the Dublin Diocesan Report and its findings also that the Lord Mayor call a debate on the issue in chambers. Dublin City Councillors have a role to play in how the safety and the welfare of our children is managed and that this Council issue a statement of regret and apology to all those who were abused in residential institutions. The then Dublin Corporation administrated the Non-attendance of School Act on behalf of the Department of Justice. Children were brought before the Children’s Court under this act and incarcerated for long periods of time throughout their childhoods where they suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of those whose care they were entrusted. It is the duty of the now Dublin City Council to acknowledge its role in the history of residential institutions and set its record straight in the interest of healing and reconciliation. I believe it is now time for us to take this positive, responsible position.

Jun

21

Charity still funded a year after concerns raised

Filed Under Child Abuse | 58 Comments

By Jennifer Hough

Monday, June 21, 2010

A CHARITY for survivors of institutional abuse continues to get government funding despite senior HSE management being shown evidence more than a year ago that there was “concern” over how the money was being used.

In a letter to senior managers in the HSE, Oliver Burke, acting administrator of Right of Place, a charity for survivors of institutional abuse, wrote “we all agreed the evidence gave cause for concern”, and that “sample evidence” proved all was not being done in a “correct and democratic matter”.

The letter, dated August 31, 2009, refers to a meeting held the previous March between Mr Burke and HSE managers, where he first raised concerns about how the charity was being run.

Right of Place has been under scrutiny after the HSE ordered that founder Noel Barry answer questions in relation to how it was spending its money.

However, questions remain unanswered and no independent investigation has taken place.

One of the country’s largest survivor groups, it has received millions of euro in Government funding since 2002 and continues to receive money.

Mr Burke, who has fought for more than a year to have Mr Barry removed and to have an audit of accounts carried out, said he felt the HSE was now trying to cover up its own ineptitude in dealing with the matter.

“I trusted the HSE to investigate, but now that this is not happening I want it all out in the open.”

Having received no adequate response to his August letter, Mr Burke followed it up with another in December.

In that letter, addressed to senior manager Gerry Kelly, Mr Burke requested that funding to Right of Place be stopped pending an investigation into all accounts and matters of a financial nature.

“I know you have tried your best to meet with Mr Barry but he still fails to answer any of your questions or will not provide proper documentation, unfortunately this is not satisfactory to any of us concerned in this matter,” the letter states.

“Your department supplies a budget to Right of Place for very clear and specific reasons as laid out in the budget agreement, this has not been done correctly now for quite some time, and members who need genuine assistance are not getting it.”

Mr Burke has now written to the Minster for Health Mary Harney requesting intervention.

In his letter to the minister, this month, Mr Burke outlines the problems within the charity, including incidents of intimidation within the charity, some which have been brought to the attention of Gardaí and asks for a “full and independent investigation”.

In the letter he claims state funds and religious donations were “seriously misused and are unaccounted for”.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, June 21, 2010

Jun

4

Seriously Concerned at Number of Organisations.

Filed Under Child Abuse | 34 Comments

From the Letters page of The Irish Times 04 June 2010

Madam, – I welcome Vincent J Lavery’s letter (June 2nd).

Funds for victims of abuse.

As someone who was abused while detained in an industrial school, I am seriously concerned at the number of organisations purporting to represent “victims of abuse” that have emerged around the country.

These organisations appear to be unaccountable to anyone, least of all the people they claim to represent. Inquires made by survivors of abuse directly to the representatives of these groups more often than not go unanswered.

Those of us who were abused while in the care of religious orders and the State, have a right to know where and how money obtained from the exchequer on our behalf is being used. What seems to be a veil of secrecy regarding very substantial funding must be pulled down. – Yours, etc,

PADDY DOYLE,

Author of The God Squad,

CityWest,

Saggart,

Co Dublin.

Jun

3

Abuse victims ‘in danger of losing public support’

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Breda Heffernan – Irish Independent 31st May 2010

A SURVIVOR of institutional abuse has criticised in-fighting among victims groups over compensation, warning they are in danger of losing public support.
Paddy Doyle, author of ‘The God Squad’ and a former resident of an industrial school, said leaders of groups appeared to be “self-appointed” rather than elected.

He said this had given rise to feelings of mistrust among some survivors and it was now time for the Government to step in and take the lead in settling outstanding issues such as compensation.

Mr Doyle claimed that money was at the crux of arguments among the survivors’ groups, including how much the religious orders should pay and whether that money should be lodged in a trust fund or given directly to abuse victims.

He cited the example of a meeting between survivors’ groups, the Taoiseach and senior cabinet members in April which descended into name-calling.

“I said at the end of that meeting that I was fearful we were heading for a situation where the abused would become the abusers. That didn’t go down well.”
He said the Government should now take a more hands-on role to ensure that survivors’ interests are paramount.

“I think the Government has to step in at this stage and make a hard decision about how you move this thing forward because it’s not going to move forward with people fighting among themselves … that’s doing none of us any good who were in the institutions.

“We were in a situation where the public was very much on our side. I think there’s a real danger we could lose that,” he warned.

Christine Buckley, director of the Aislinn Centre, said a range of groups had “mushroomed” since the apology of then-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 1999 and the establishment of the Redress Board. Ms Buckley said the priorities for the Aislinn Centre have always been education and counselling.

She said that some groups had told survivors they could get them an extra €200,000 to €300,000 in the second tranche of compensation and that some people had borrowed from money lenders as a result.

And Ms Buckley said she had been contacted by two separate solicitors who told her they would offer loans to survivors on the back of such assurances.
However, the Taoiseach has said the €110m in extra cash pledged by 16 of the 18 religious orders will be placed in a trust fund and administered by the State.

Jun

2

Funds for victims of abuse

Filed Under Child Abuse | 9 Comments

Letter to The Irish Times 02 June 2010

Madam,

It is time for all organisations in this country that have received monies from either the State or religious bodies in relation to the child sex scandals to give a public accounting of how much funds each has received, why they received them, and how these funds have been dispersed. – Yours, etc,
Seriously concerned at number of organisations

VINCENT J LAVERY,

Co Dublin.

May

24

Calls for state to investigate charity

Filed Under Child Abuse | 16 Comments

By Jennifer Hough

Monday, May 24, 2010

THE HSE is incapable of sorting out ongoing serious difficulties in a charity for survivors of institutional abuse so the Government must now step in, it has been claimed.

Labour’s Sean Sherlock said a raft of serious question marks remained over Cork-based charity Right of Place, but despite this, it seemed to be “business as usual”.

He will raise the matter in the Dáil this week saying it is time for ministerial intervention.

Mr Sherlock said the experience of a female volunteer at the charity, Catherine Coffey, which was brought to his attention was the “straw which broke the camels back”.

Ms Coffey, a founding member of the Kerry branch of Right of Place, has made a complaint to the gardaí and the HSE over alleged threats made to her at the offices of Right of Place.

Ms Coffey is claiming she was verbally abused and threatened on several occasions by a member of the charity.

She claimed the founder of the project, Noel Barry, was allowing this to go on and claimed the charity was “dysfunctional”.

She has written letters of complaint to the HSE, the charity’s founder Noel Barry, and the head of the new committee Oliver Burke.

Mr Burke said he was aware of Ms Coffey’s claims and said she had a “genuine complaint”.

He said Right of Place needed to be investigated fully to move forward in a new era of accountability and transparency

However, Mr Burke said he now had “grave concerns” that the HSE would not tackle the real issues within Right of Place.

Mr Sherlock said there was a complete lack of transparency within the charity. He said there was a “triangular relationship” between the HSE, the department of Education and the charity, and it appeared as though Mr Barry enjoyed the support of an existing Government minister.

Mr Sherlock said if this was the case, the Government now had to answer questions about the organisation and how it was run in the past.

“The focus now has to switch to the Government and the Cabinet must make a statement. This is an issue that is not going away and needs ministerial intervention,” he said.

The organisation has been under scrutiny since late last year after the HSE ordered that its founder Mr Barry answer questions in relation to how it was spending its money. One of the country’s largest survivor groups, it has received millions in Government funding since 2002 and continues to receive money.

An Irish Examiner investigation last December revealed the group, unknown to its members, had, as well as Government funds, received hundreds of thousands from religious orders and bishops.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, May 24, 2010

May

23

Centre defends hiring of abusive former nun

Filed Under Child Abuse | 8 Comments

John Downes, News Investigations Correspondent The Sunday Tribune

The founder of the Cuan Mhuire centre in Athy, which treats vulnerable people with drug and alcohol problems, has defended its decision to allow the former Mercy nun Nora Wall to continue to work there despite the findings of the Ryan report in relation to her.

The report said that Wall – given the pseudonym St Callida in the report when it was published 12 months ago – beat children in her care, and exposed them to “additional risk” by allowing male outsiders to stay overnight at St Michael’s home in Cappoquin, Co Waterford.

It also highlighted how she engaged in lesbian relationships while in charge at the centre, would consume alcohol to excess in front of the children, and would take children away for weekends to stay in hotel “family rooms”.

According to one of those interviewed in the report, she and her female partner would typically share one bed while the children would share other beds in the same room.

Nora Wall formerly of St. Michael's Industrial School, Cappoquin - accused of abuse in The Ryan Report

Sr Consilio Fitzgerald, founder of the internationally respected Cuan Mhuire group of treatment centres, told the Sunday Tribune that Wall is employed as a full-time gardener at Cuan Mhuire in Athy.

Set on 49 acres of land, the centre’s land and the cultivation of its produce is a “central part of the rehabilitation programme,” its website states.

But Fitzgerald said she was not aware of the Ryan report’s concerns in relation to Wall’s time at Cappoquin, adding that she was “very happy” with her work at Cuan Mhuire.

“Nora Wall gets up every morning and gets on with her gardening. She keeps quite busy,” she said. “I never considered changing her role. She gets up and gets on with it. She’s helping with our preparations here. She just works in the garden on her own. She has her work to do and does it faithfully and does it very well here.”

Former Cappoquin resident Gerry Kelly, who was sexually and physically abused at the Artane Industrial School.

But he said he was “ostracised” in Cappoquin after he tried to raise his concerns. This included going public in 1999 with his claim that when he returned to the centre as an adult in 1979, Wall – who went by the name Sr Dominic – invited him to join her and another nun in bed together.

“I couldn’t have made that up. Why would you make something like that up?” he told the Sunday Tribune. Kelly suffered a stroke seven years ago which he attributes to the stress of his childhood experiences.

Wall, who is in her early 60s, had her conviction for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in the same home declared a miscarriage of justice by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2005 after it emerged that evidence had been given by a witness known to be unreliable.

She has since launched a High Court challenge to the alleged refusal of the state to make a decision on her claim for compensation over a miscarriage of justice in her case.

May 23, 2010

May

16

Survivors at loggerheads over denial of sex abuse

Filed Under Child Abuse | 113 Comments

Christine Buckley questions Michael O’Brien’s radio interview from 10 years ago
John Downes, News Investigations Correspondent

Survivors of sexual abuse in religious-run residential institutions are embroiled in an increasingly bitter row over how some €680m in compensation from religious orders identified in the Ryan report should be shared out, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

Michael O'Brien and Christine Buckley accept their People of the Year award last September

The dispute took a dramatic twist this weekend when the Aislinn Centre’s Christine Buckley criticised a decade-old radio interview with the former mayor of Clonmel, Michael O’Brien, where he claimed not to have been sexually abused while he was incarcerated in St Joseph’s industrial school, Ferryhouse.

This directly contradicts a highly-charged intervention on RTE’s Questions and Answers programme in May of last year, where O’Brien detailed the extent of abuse he suffered, prompting widespread public sympathy and anger.

During the 1999 interview on a local radio station, O’Brien expresses sympathy for victims of sexual abuse who suffered at the hands of the notorious Rosminian abuser at Ferryhouse, Brother Sean Barry. He goes on to say: “But I must say, and I have to say it here and now, because I had to meet my family when this came out. And say it never happened to me, I never seen it happening, I never heard of it happening in my seven years in Ferryhouse. I never seen or heard of it.”

Although O’Brien acknowledges in the interview that he was subjected to physical abuse and deprivation at Ferryhouse, he also pays tribute to the Rosminians and says that this was the state’s fault, not Ferryhouse.

“We were left there to those brothers and those priests to become our parents, and look after us. And as far as I’m concerned, 99.9% of them done a good job… out of every group, no matter what organisation you’re in, you’ll find bad eggs, Ferryhouse is my home. And I will defend it to the end as long as I live, because I was reared by them.”

Goldenbridge survivor Buckley told the Sunday Tribune that she has “very deep reservations and concerns” about the interview.

“I couldn’t doubt any victim of institutional abuse nor have I ever questioned anybody before. This is the first time I have done this,” she said. “Being in denial is being in denial. But why be so vociferous in protecting the Rosminian order on the radio?”

Buckley pointed out that O’Brien gave the radio interview before the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s apology on behalf of the state to victims of institutional abuse on 11 May, 1999.

Buckley added that she was passed a copy of O’Brien’s radio interview in October of last year anonymously. If she had known its contents a month earlier, when she accepted a People of the Year award with O’Brien, she said she did not think she could have gone onstage with him.

When contacted by the Sunday Tribune this weekend O’Brien strongly defended the interview, which he said he had given in recognition of the fact that Ferryhouse was the “only home I ever knew”.

“The reason I didn’t say anything about sexual abuse on local radio was that I didn’t want my family or anybody to know about it. I didn’t want to talk about it… I had been mayor of Clonmel and I didn’t want anyone to know about it,” he said. “I want nothing off anyone out of this. I said that to the Taoiseach, I said it everywhere I went. I want nothing off you. I said it to the Bishops, personally I want nothing off of anybody. But I’ll fight on my back for former residents, I do want the former residents set up. I do not want money out of it. I never wanted money out of it. And that is a fact.”

Both Buckley and O’Brien were among a group of representatives of survivors who met with Taoiseach Brian Cowen last April. But O’Brien and other groups such as the Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) Ireland stormed out after they were informed by Cowen that just €110m out of some €680m expected total compensation from religious orders was to go into a state-administered fund for former residents of the institutions.

They were told at the meeting that the congregations had offered additional compensation which they value at €348.51m, on top of the €128m already contributed under the controversial 2002 indemnity deal. The government also intends to seek over €200m more from the congregations to reach some €680m, or a 50% share, of the €1.36bn cost of the indemnity deal.

Buckley and others such as One in Four, who have extensive experience of providing counselling and support services to abuse survivors, have broadly wel­comed the allocation of €110m, although they say more will likely be needed. They argue that it would be impossible to provide individual financial compensation to survivors fairly.

“How can we have people stating that they’re entitled to this money, when the same people do not see the importance of education and counselling, and the Barnardos tracing service for example?” Buckley said.

They believe it is far preferable for education, health, housing and other counselling services to be provided on an “as needed” basis to the tens of thousands of survivors both in Ireland and abroad, regardless of whether they went before the Redress board.

However, John Kelly of SOCA told the Sunday Tribune that his group and others, including O’Brien’s Right to Peace group, want the entire €680m placed in a fund which would provide financial compensation to survivors, for them to spend as they see fit.

May 16, 2010

May

12

Sins in the Church to blame for child abuse scandal, admits Pope

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The Times 12th May 2010

The Pope admitted for the first time yesterday that the Roman Catholic Church must accept responsibility for the child sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed it.

Speaking on a visit to Portugal, Benedict XVI said that “sins inside the Church” must be blamed, rather than “outside enemies”. He added that “forgiveness is no substitute for justice” and that the Church had to “relearn prayer and penance”.

His comments were hailed from within the Vatican hierarchy, with one senior figure on the Pope’s staff telling The Times that it amounted to a “sea change” in the way that the Church is dealing with the scandals.

Benedict’s five-year papacy has been rocked by allegations that the Vatican protected paedophile priests from prosecution in Europe and the United States. Bishops sometimes simply moved accused priests to new parishes, where the abuse continued.

Even after yesterday’s contrite statement, however, the Vatican’s critics insist that the Pope has still not done nearly enough to repair the damage or protect children from a culture of secrecy that allowed priests to rape and molest children unchecked for decades. Some have noted that while the pontiff has accepted some bishops’ resignations, no bishop has been actively punished or defrocked, not even those who admitted molesting children.

“Many are tiring of hearing about his ‘strong comments’. They want to see strong action,” said David Clohessy, the director of the main US victims’ group, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

Marie Collins, an Irish victim of clerical child sexual abuse, said that the Pope’s comments were “a step forward but not a breakthrough”.

She said: “It’s a big change from saying it’s all a media conspiracy but we still need more. The cover-up of abuse was a policy which came from Rome, not a sin in the way the Pope means. He has not gone far enough.”

Before the Pope made his comments, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, of the Dublin Diocese, said that there were “strong forces” still at work in the Catholic Church in Ireland “which would prefer that the truth did not emerge” about clerical child sex abuse.

Until now the Vatican and individual cardinals and bishops have sought to lay the blame for allegations of priestly abuse on the media, the Devil, the permissiveness of the 1960s, and on petty gossip and homosexuality.

But the Pope struck a very different note yesterday. “Attacks on the Pope and the Church come not only from outside the Church, but the suffering of the Church comes from inside the Church, from sins that exist inside the Church,” he told journalists on the plane to Lisbon. “This we have always known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The greatest persecution of the Church does not come from the enemies outside, but is born from sin inside the Church. The Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness, but also the necessity of justice.”

The Vatican claims that Benedict has taken the lead in investigating abuse, as pontiff and previously as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Three weeks ago he prayed and wept with victims of sex abuse at an orphanage in Malta.

On the defensive

Vatican editorial, March 25 “The prevalent tendency in the media is to stretch interpretations with the aim of spreading the picture of the Catholic Church as the only one responsible for sexual abuse”

Pope Benedict XVI, March 28 Faith in God leads “towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip”

Mgr Giacomo Babini, retired bishop, April 12 “Zionist attack” is behind criticism of the Pope. “They do not want the Church, they are its natural enemies. Historically speaking, the Jews are God-killers”

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, April 7 “The errors of priests are being used as weapons against the Church”

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, April 14 “Many psychologists, many psychiatrists have demonstrated no relationship between celibacy and paedophilia but many others have demonstrated that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia”

Source: Times archives

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