Tue, Jan 19, 2010

RITE AND REASON: “Paul”, who suffered clerical sex abuse, explains why he believes the Catholic Church has failed properly to deal with the problem in its midst.

I AM writing because I know why the church hid the abusers and is still evasive about blaming the perpetrators and the people who hid them.

Naturally I am a victim, so I am limited by the anger I feel, but also it seems I am unique in remembering the most important aspect of it all, the aspect that explains everything.

My priest (abuser) has the distinction of being the highest placed individual that I am aware of as having been accused. He is dead many years.

I want to remain anonymous because I do not want a label attached to myself. Understand, I am not shamed in any way, but that is not who I am and I don’t want all my actions or inactions explained away with reference to the abuse I experienced.

The reason why the church covered up the abuse and moved priests about is because they did not blame the priests, they blamed the children. With this knowledge observe the reaction of church authorities. They
look as if they would like to say it, but can’t.

And that is it. They can’t because they believe society is now over-sentimental about children and they would not be understood. This was confirmed to me when I met an old priest tucked away in a nursing
home despite the fact he was not unwell.

At one point he suggested Cardinal Ó Fiaich should be canonised, I rejected the idea, pointing out he was involved in the cover-up of abuse.

The old priest said: “People should forgive him, after all we are prepared to forgive the children.” I asked: “Forgive the children what?”
He replied: “Their share of the blame.” Of course in that moment I realised he was himself an abuser, hidden away there.

In my own case the priest treated the abuse as punishment for some contrived wrongdoing by me. Afterwards he would recoil, claiming that I was the cause of it and he was merely a weak sinner who had been tempted by me.

You can see; firstly, the damage this would do to the child, (the child is unlikely to report it as the child has been led to believe that he/she is to blame) and, secondly, you can also see the moral get-out clause this gives the priest and the church.

They see themselves as the victims and everything that has happened, up to and including the Murphy report, is part of the attack that these Devil-inspired, tempter children have been responsible for in their
attempts to destroy the church.

Every victim who then claims against the church is simply acting in the role in which they have been cast. Having tempted the poor, weak priest into sin they then add insult to injury by trying to destroy the church
by attempting to steal its money.

With this logic in mind everything falls into place. The problem is not a legal or a moral one, it is spiritual. This explains their moving the priests on; giving them a fresh start; and pleading that “lots of prayer will help you”. And when they offend again, they will have been preyed
upon by another agent of the Devil in child form.

Of course this is all self-deluding rubbish. It is a product of a “closed society” which has drifted into a terrible place because it has no outside agency (such as the law) to regulate it. All closed societies are dangerous for this reason.

Furthermore, we are dealing with an organisation that still retains medieval beliefs. It may play them down (exorcism for example) but they are still on the books and inform the day-to-day running of the church.

I believe strongly that the church, despite all its mistakes, was a major contributor to the stabilisation of western civilisation. But that day has passed. Law and constitutional democracy have superseded the
need for the rules the church enforced.

*The identity of the writer is known to The Irish Times

© 2010 The Irish Times

 

33 Responses to “Church blames Devil-inspired children over sex abuse”

  1. Catherine says:

    Dear Mike (13th Oct).

    Some of your comments are quite offensive on this site “greater powers at work which can affect and tempt all of us in diffrent ways”….an excuse, no more.

    “never judge anything until you get all the facts” It’s called the Ryan report. Read it sometime.

    “we are all in a fallen nature,so all need saving”. I don’t want, or need to be saved.

    “this is a spirit war,and the blame game is stupid until we have the truth”. We have the truth….just that for many people it is still too hard to digest. They remain in a constipated state, as you demonstrate so clearly.

  2. Kathleen O'malley. "Childhood Interrupted" says:

    Satan has been at work for many years in Ireland. The Christian Brothers and Sisters of Mercy could not have behaved in a more demonic way.
    There is the proof.
    We all know there is evil in the Vatican, otherwise Paedophiles would not be protected.
    Kathleen O’Malley.

  3. mike says:

    ok lets cut to the chase,the priests are in the wrong with what they have done…..
    but i believe there are greater powers at work which can affect and tempt all of us in diffrent ways.
    Christ said there is great evil in high places,and they killed him for nothing…sort of shows this to be true.
    never judge anything until you get all the facts,the happenings are very wrong.
    we are all in a fallen nature,so all need saving.some are affected greatly,others not so.what has happened to these children is horrible and i wouldn,t want to defend these priests by saying the devil made me do it attitude.
    but i do know how you can be attacked spiritually and mentally.so what should we do
    this is satans domain until Christ returns,should we keep letting satan attack whoever he wants ,so to discredit without him being accountable.?
    or do you go with the devil leaves me alone he must be cool.?
    this is a spirit war,and the blame game is stupid until we have the truth.

  4. Kathleen O'Malley. "Childhood Interrupted". says:

    Doris.
    Have you signed the Petition “Shameof Ireland”your questions and many others can only be presented if we get a vote.
    These Monsters hopefully will get what they deserve one day, I do believe it is fast approaching.
    The Popes visit has created their exposure Hurray.
    Little did the VATICAN, THE ORGANISER OF THIS STATE VISIT KNOW WHAT WAS ABOUT TO EMERGE.
    PANDORAS BOX IS WELL AND TRULY OPEN AND THERE IS NO GOING BACK.
    THE BIOGETED CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADERS NEED A COMPLETE CLEANSING.
    I FEEL WE HAVE BEEN IN A DARKENED ROOM FOR YEARS, SUDDENLY SOMEONE HAS LIT A CANDLE.
    ENJOY.
    KATHLEEN O’MALLEY.

  5. paul lucas says:

    i was abused by this nasty pices of work wat happens there moved how do u justefiy this top to bottom and visa vras

  6. corneilius says:

    Tony, perhaps a bit of history might help.

    Freud, the father of psychiatry and psychoanalysis, betrayed the children; his first insights were that psychological distress in adulthood is most often caused by trauma in childhood. When he presented this to his peers, he was laughed and and ridiculed.

    He retreated, and then returned with the Oedipal Complex, which in itself is a rather creative re-write of an older philosophy that deemed the child’s spirit was willful and must be mastered so as to make the child ‘fit in’ to Society. ‘Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child’ is an ancient Greco/Roman saying.

    Most therapists leave out those parts of the trauma that Society is responsible for, which Society must heal and change, which leaves the person seeking help alone and vulnerable and unable to complete the process – and of course being unable to do so they will blame themselves, as will the therapist.

    The history of Christianity and Judaism is founded upon the concept of original sin. Thus the child is to blame. To libel a child in such a way is an act of extreme cruelty, yet is that cruelty is almost invisible to most Christians, whatever their denomination!

    Let me tell you how this translates into real life today in terms of my own experience; before I had done the work on myself to clear my trauma behaviours, I would bully others, including my own children, and punish them.

    Not because they had done anything ‘wrong’, but because I became irrationally angry, and would then blame them for making me angry. The anger was inside me, old pains that I had not faced, for whatever reason, waiting for a suitable scapegoat. And even with the scapegoating the wound is not healed. The pain remains, ready for more ‘stimulation’.

    I would say to them as they were crying ‘LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE MADE ME DO!”

    Then I would of course say ‘sorry. never again’ and do it again the next day.

    This same phrase and pattern was repeated to me, on a daily basis as priests, nuns and relatives beat me during my childhood. That’s where I learned it. I was repeating the patterns I had been taught.

    Breaking out of the pattern took me facing the truth of my adult behaviour, of breaking through the defensive shield of justifications I had built.

    It also took going back to my childhood and understanding that the adults did seriously abuse me, and then having real empathy for the child I was. That empathy had died because it became ‘normal’ to me. I had ‘adapted’.

    So it is throughout this Society, that all children are forced to adapt, to ‘fit in’, and this is the very basis for what are called Power Relationships. This is part of why the Church and Government are loathe to let the full light of day into these issues.

    It goes to the very heart of Power.

  7. Tony Duggan says:

    I note that there are various psychotherapists involved with the survivors but one thing puzzles me- the professional organisations in Ireland involved in psychology and psychiatry have never yet to my knowledge explained the dangers or psychological processes involved in breaking the most basic of human taboos- the abuse of a child.

    I am not a qualified professional in this area but I can understand the mechanics of for example a sadistic nun- many of them were simply women who were confronted every day with what was denied them- children. So I can kind of understand (but NOT condone in anyway EVER) how they went off the deep end into mental illness and lashing out at the reminder of what they would never have in their own lives.

    I’ve noted something peculiar about nuns before- they tend to be almost coquettish and flirty around laymen at times. I think it is well worth a psychological study into the damage for example that an otherwise normal and healthy woman can do in adopting a life of celibacy. In anthropological terms it is unnatural.

    I won’t even pretend to try to grasp the psychology of a CB or monk attacking a child in their care sexually or otherwise except to say it is not natural and should be inhibited by normal social taboos at least.

    There is work to be done by the psychology profession in Ireland and they must gather some courage as a group and point out these things so we can guard properly as a society against such destruction of young lives.

    I’m not impressed by the general silence of the psychologists and analysts in Ireland thus far.

  8. Paddy says:

    Nothing like an outburst Tony. Say it like it is. If will be appreciated by all who come across this website and who’ve written about their abuse. You’re support is welcome, very welcome. Paddy.

  9. Tony Duggan says:

    Ta Paddy- bit of an upset outburst really but I’d been reading some of the survivor’s comments about their experiences and I’ve never felt so bloody angry that anything likes these assaults on children could happen.

    The last couple of years have been an education of quite another kind about what happened in the dark corners of our country.

    For any survivors … keep going. The bravest people in Ireland.

  10. Paddy says:

    Of course it’s right that you should post here Tony. We need all points of view and all the help we can get to highlight the scandal of abuse in this country. The country is a disgrace is the eyes of the world but perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. Time to bomb and blast “The Island of Saints and Scholars”. Thanks for posting and keep at it Tony. Paddy.

  11. Tony Duggan says:

    I don’t know whether it is right or wrong for me to post here as I am a lucky person- I never suffered any abuse nor did I come under the ‘care’ of these religious orders.

    As a Wexford man who left Ireland to work in the UK 20 years ago I have watched with absolute horror as the abuse Ryan and Dublin Dicoesan reports detailed what was going on in religious institutions.

    Many survivors will not believe any Irish person who says they were not aware of the child-Gulags.

    I genuinely was not as my family worked in England and I only went back to Ireland to do secondary school and it was a new Community school in a satellite town and I genuinely knew nothing of what was going on.

    I have left the catholic church- not just because of the sickening abuse scandals but because I am fairly well educated and know myself what that organisation is about.

    But its the corruption- I’ve read some of the survivors accounts of what happened them and I would cheerfully machine-gun the church in Ireland to the ground over the way they have on a corporate level continued the abuse and disrespect.

    All I can do is keep emailing the Dept of Justice demanding to know where the statement of assets is …

    As a bystander I feel sick at what has been done to vulnerable people in Ireland over the decades.

    What I want to know is- what can I do that is of practical use to the survivors? Is there anywhere you would recommend where ordinary people can put a shoulder to the wheel in this?

    I’m so sorry and ashamed of my country right now and that vile organisation which ran the social system in Ireland in the face of cowardice from the state authorities.

    Please let me know how I can help.

  12. Andrew says:

    You know what they say!

    “He’s a respected member of our community. . .”

    “. . .one drop of ink in crystal clear water. . .”

    “Hey, Father, we’ve got a little problem. . .”

    “It’s not our job to judge . . . it’s the Lord’s job.”

    “He’s a wonderful person. He’s got our support 100 percent.”

    “When he preached, his face was just shining like an angel.”

    “It’s not for you to judge. That’s for God to do.”

    “He’s a good man. If he did this, he will have to answer to God when he dies.”

    “I thought he was doing the right thing, because he was a priest.”–Eleven year old boy victim

    “I feel like my church has betrayed me.”–His mother

    “We have the right to know if an abuser is living among us.”–Letter to editor

    “Something like this can destroy a person.”–Parent

    “Being a preacher, we thought he was a good man.”–Father of girl victim

    “This is the worst case of sexual abuse I’ve seen during my 30 years in law enforcement.”–Sheriff

    “He wrapped himself in religious piety, used his position in the church and the community to shield himself and . . . to find children . . . to seduce them.”–U.S. Attorney

    “The defendant used his position of trust to get these girls.”–Prosecutor

    “Dressed up in sheep’s clothing, he is a wolf that preys on our children.”–Prosecutor

    “This family turned to the church for help, and all the doors slammed shut.”–Victims’ Attorney

    “I think the Catholic Church has its atonement to make as well. They helped create you.”–Judge

    “Priests now have a license to sexually betray their parishioners and the church will turn its back on innocent victims.”–Attorney

  13. Charles O'Rourke says:

    Dear Catholics of Ireland, I am the Pope and boss for the whole works. I have read the Ryan Report and have decided the following. All orders named in the Ryan Report are hereby to disband, you are not part of my church. You are to hand over all of your assets to the boys and girls who suffered at your hands. No ifs and buts, you are finito. You are a liability to me and the Church. Tell that Garvy to begin the standing down of that thuggish order.You are like the Taliban. Further hand yourselves over to the police, you are nothing more than criminals. Failure to obey me means excommunication, finito. If you think I’m joking go ahead punks and make my day, I want this done within 48 hours. Now that,s what I call a letter to the Irish and that,s what I call a real Christian. Go on Benedict and we will remember you for the right reasons, anything less and we’ll put you beside your fellow countryman. Was he Bavarian?.

  14. dorris lloyd says:

    Please can anyone give me any information on what the Sisters of Mercy are doing with the compensation fund. I lost everyone through being in the institution for ten years. I am to frightened to let people go near me. I went to the Redress Board and got a pittance.forty odd years of counselling did me no good. Please help .

  15. Charles O'Rourke says:

    Slowly it is dawning on me why no Christian Brother or priest has broken ranks and become a whistle blower. They are taken care of all the way to the grave, tucked away in their nursing homes they are able to continue their abuse if not in action but by words. They still see themselves as chosen by God and the rape of children as the work of Satan. The Devil in his cunning way had put children in their way to tempt them in to sin and succeeded. That is the mind set that has given us the Ryan and Murphy and Cloyne Reports. This is the mind set that runs our hospitals and schools. Our children are in danger.

  16. Redzer says:

    She/he deserved it.

    Just a bit of messin’

    She/she was lookin for it.

    That will teach ’em a lesson

    Gaggin for it, dresssed like that.
    ——————————
    expression of pedos in suport of their actions
    —————————————
    What motivates the actions: it must be deeply rooted primeval desire to strike back at society and particularly children who may be perceived as offending articles for a variety of reason.
    —————————————-
    One day they came for me, they left me for dead after but then found I survived and then feared i would speak so they came to my town, my school, as they put it, “that i would disappear and nobody would ever know what happened to me and I would never speak again”, and so they started about their task, ordinary looking priests. Something happened (I will not say) and they decided to discredit me instead directly to my siblings so that nobody would believe what had been done to me or what I had seen as a young child.

    They set the story that I had tempted priests and involved them in sex and that I was a 9 year old pervert. It worked and that was nearly 40 years ago and to this very day that is how I am perceived even in the knowledge of those real events, that is what I am to my siblings, a seducer of priests. That is the power of church brainwashing over the innocent mind. That is the power of Ratzingers instructions to Irish churches in 1962, that is the result of a Cardinals support of paedophiles, a weak Taoiseachs support for a church, the brainwashing of innocent minds.

    Yes this article above, it fully, utterly and wholly correct. Whoever wrote it, thanks

    And it comes as no surprise about these priests, they are laughing the whole way back to the altar

    RB

    N, Germany

  17. Hello Martha,
    I really did not want the experience, I lived in desperate poverty with my little family before Judge Gleeson, they called him the hanging Judge sentenced me on February 8th 1949, you should all be flogged, he quipped as I was led to be transported to the hell-hole they called Glin, he spoke no truer words. A very short piece of my memoir which I am still writing, this is on page 80 and is just one incident.

    Walking in the yard, it was a Saturday evening, I recall, the brother noticed me talking to one of the boys as the chapel bell rang the Angelus, I did not see him approach and the crack of the leather across my legs caused me to fall to the ground, I seen his soft leather black shoe coming at my head but it struck the gravel stones first sending a hail of small stones into my face, the pain in my right eye was excruciating as if a sharp hot knife had been plunged into it, I was blinded, both eyes shut as I scrambled to my feet, not hearing a sound except for the chapel bell, I stood still, wondering what next, and then feeling a rough hand grabbing my shoulders and telling me, to open your eye’s and “look at me” I cant Sir, I cried, he must have seen the trickle of blood coming from the corner of my right eye, he led me to the recreation hall and guided me onto one of the wooden benches and had me sit down, I could feel his hands shaking as he tried to open my eye, he then led me to the infimary where the nurse forced open my eye to look at it, I heard her say I would have to a doctor as she she did not have the proper equipment in the infirmary and asking the brother to go and get Bro. C. as he could drive the car. I was taken a short distance in the car which I learned was a little town called “Tarbert” and led into a house where a doctor lived.
    There was no further mention, I still have the scar on my eyeball and a huge scar in my memory, called PTSD.
    Just one of the better experiences in Glin.

    Seanie Morrison, PI, ACFE, CFE.

  18. Sandie Smith says:

    I found ‘The God Squad’ at my local Cancer Research.
    The cute little cover star drew me to it, not sure what I would find.
    I’ve since read Patrick Touher’s books, and as in yours find the way in which you can both see good in those who used you at their will the most heartbreaking.
    For some wonderful reason, I come from a generations of people (I’m told) who always respected children and despised the casual attitude to ‘smacking’ or however it’s dressed up.
    I swear until society gets over that one, as it has generally to wife beating, we can never begin to move on.
    As far as corporal punishment goes, it’s not just about ‘levels’ of abuse, it’s about default attitudes.
    The fact adult prisons had finished with many of these punishment methods speaks volumes there.
    Of course the sexual abuse is something else, and I believe many of the contributors here have said it far better than I ever could.
    I hope this doesn’t seem trite, but when I saw you and Patrick’s pictures I just wanted to hug ya both! Then I hug my wee girl instead.
    Peace to you all.

  19. Hello Martha,
    I really did not want the experience, I lived in desperate poverty with my little family before Judge Gleeson, they called him the hanging Judge sentenced me on February 8th 1949, you should all be flogged, he quipped as I was led to be transported to the hell-hole they called Glin, he spoke no truer words. A very short piece of my memoir which I am still writing, this is on page 80 and is just one incident.

    Walking in the yard, it was a Saturday evening, I recall, the brother noticed me talking to one of the boys as the chapel bell rang the Angelus, I did not see him approach and the crack of the leather across my legs caused me to fall to the ground, I seen his soft leather black shoe coming at my head but it struck the gravel stones first sending a hail of small stones into my face, the pain in my right eye was excruciating

  20. barry clifford says:

    Timely Reminder

    An abuse of public money?

    The head of one victims group has accused others of being more interested in state funding than supporting the people they are there to help, write Siobhan Maguire and Dearbhail McDonald in the Sunday Times – Irish Edition
    It was the last meeting before Christmas of the National Office for Victims of Abuse (Nova) but the final item on the agenda struck an unseasonal note.
    The leaders of victim support groups had been discussing routine matters with officials from the departments of health and education at Nova’s office in Ormond Quay in Dublin. But, clearing his throat, Tom Hayes, the secretary of the Alliance Victim Support Group, said he had one last issue to raise.
    The Northern Ireland civil servant said he had a question about the West of Ireland. He wanted to discuss a rumour that Aislinn, a support group headed by Christine Buckley, had been sending members on free weekend breaks to the city. Hayes wondered how people were selected for these trips and if they were funded by government money.
    Buckley, who was abused by the Sisters of Mercy at the Goldenbridge orphanage, was not present at the meeting. But a representative rebutted Haye’s accusation, and said the drop-in centre for victims was not getting government funding for any such trips.
    Hayes’s claims, which he later accepted were based on a misunderstanding, surprised most people at the meeting. Some believed it was a veiled attack against what is considered to be the leading Irish support group for victims of institutional abuse.
    Last week Hayes, who spent eight years in an industrial school in Limerick, went public with other reservations he has about the plethora of groups that help victims. Institutional abuse had created a cottage industry of support groups, he said. Some of these groups appeared more interested in receiving state funding than in helping victims.
    The remarks lifted the lid on a simmering dispute. For months, Hayes, whose group claims to represent more than 300 abuse victims, has been making criticisms in private to government officials. He has, in particular, challenged the quality of service offered by state-funded victims groups.
    Two weeks ago Hayes complained to the Departments of Health and education which both fund survivors groups that some victims had claimed they were badly treated at certain groups. He told officials he was concerned about the volume of complaints he said he had received about the Cork-based Right of Place, which has assisted 1,800 former residents, and Aislinn, which says it has helped more than 3,500.
    Survivor groups reacted angrily when Hayes went public last week.Tom Hayes is wrong, said Tony Treacy, the housing officer for Right of Place. What he has said about us is totally unjust and untrue. He has never even been to see us in Cork.
    Buckley, whose harrowing account of the abuse she suffered featured in the 1996 documentary, Dear Daughter, reacted even more strongly. She instructed solicitors to issue letters warning against any defamatory allegations being made against Aislinn. Through her solicitors, Buckley said that, as far as she is aware, Hayes had no issues with her.
    The Department of Education and the Department of Health have excellent relations with Aislinn, and Buckley has no intimation that any complaint has been received from either, her solicitors said.
    Whatever the truth of Hayes’s charges, his characterisation of a cottage industry hit a raw nerve. Why are eight groups, most in receipt of public money, involved in counselling victims. Couldn’t Nova, the government agency, do the job. It’s about compensation. It is about how much you will get and how long you have to wait for it, says a victim who was counselled by one group. The institutional mentality still reigns among survivors, they can’t move on.
    IN MAY 1999, two weeks after RTE screened States of Fear, a documentary detailing the horrors of institutional abuse, Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, apologised to victims.
    Ahern established the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, chaired by Justice Mary Laffoy, who resigned last year in a row with the government. The government also set up the Residential Institutions Redress Board a compensation fund and told former inmates of industrial schools who suffered physical or sexual abuse they were entitled to damages.
    The final bill could be 1 billion, according to John Purcell, the comptroller and auditor general. The average payment to each claimant so far is 80,000.
    The extent of the abuse case-load emerged last Friday when Laffoy reported that 4,128 allegations by 1,712 complainants have been brought to the commission.
    The united front presented by victims in 1999 soon dissolved. Natural leaders such as Buckley, Hayes and Mick Waters quickly emerged and each set up their own groups.
    All the groups have their own voice, all have their own opinions, and they all see things differently, says Waters of Survivors of Child Abuse (Soca) UK.
    Last year Waters appealed to victims groups to unite or face exclusion from the consultation process on the future direction of the child abuse commission. John Kelly of Irish Soca which has no connection to Soca UK says groups have to have a united approach. But competition between the groups is now more vigorous than ever.
    Last year, following huge payouts by the Catholic church to Mervyn Rundle and Colm O Gorman victims of paedophile priests Buckley claimed survivors of institutional abuse were being treated as third-class citizens compared with those abused by diocesan priests.
    Complicating the matter further, Let Our Voices Emerge (Love), a group of people with positive memories of institutional care, stepped into the arena to defend the religious orders. Buckley branded them teacher’s pets and LOVE retaliated by calling for better auditing procedures for victim support groups.
    The Department of Education, which funds Nova, concedes there is no formal quality control process to assess the level of services, and no formal complaints procedure for dealing with complaints against support groups.
    Senior officials privately admit they know all about the fighting. One official says it was widely known that conflict and personality clashes had started even before Laffoy was appointed. This is an all-out turf war, the official says. Each group has its own agenda and is interested in feathering its own nest.
    The groups are always having a go at each other and it has been like that for as long as I can remember. We have a remit to work with the support groups and make sure that we meet regularly to discuss any concerns. Of course, if allegations are being made we have to look into them.
    The comptroller is already reviewing a number of victims groups accounts. But the in-fighting is likely to worsen. Patrick Walsh of Irish Soca has branded Hayes’s comments irrational and offensive. Hayes remains defiant and believes his claims are being taken seriously by the government.
    He also says a culture of dependency has engulfed the support groups. What we have are organisations run for victims by victims, and it is like a vicious circle because victims end up in an environment where the past is always present, he says.
    Patricia Casey, a professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin, agrees this is a possibility. The inherent danger with self-help groups is that unless they are headed by skilled and qualified facilitators, dependency can be induced and reinforced, rather than healing encouraged, she says.
    Hayes and his supporters want thorough reform. They are not calling for victims groups to be disbanded, but to be managed by fully qualified, independent professionals. But is the government likely to act, or is it still too wary of victims and too embarrassed about its role in turning a blind eye to institutional abuse?
    LAST week Christy Mannion, an adviser to Micheal Martin, the health minister, held an informal meeting with Hayes and his wife Ruth, also a member of the alliance group.
    The three met in Buswells hotel in Dublin and Hayes outlined his proposals for a uniform, professionally led victims group. The civil servant left an impression on Mannion, who found him very sincere and promised to raise his concerns with the minister.
    The Aliance group wants the centre to be under the control of the Department of Health. It must be open to all victims of institutions and should be aligned to the national office with the overall responsibility vested in professionally trained personnel, says Hayes. It would be reasonable to expect that all other issues to do with the smooth running of a government centre such as health and safety, fire, security, confidentiality and a complaints procedure would be established as a matter of form.
    Martin and Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Education, will soon be briefed by their officials on the conflict between the groups and on ideas to reform the cottage industry. But discussions will not begin until the government deals with the criticism contained in Laffoy’s third interim report. Published last Friday, it again castigated the government for its failure to co-operate with the inquiry.
    In the meantime, Hayes faces a chilly reception when Nova meets in two weeks. I have no axe to grind but it is time to see some changes in the way victim support groups are managed and the quality of services being offered to survivors. Im not going to be quiet. It’s a matter for the government now to step in and take control.
    Fighting for funds Nova- the government agency established in 2000 to deal with the support groups. Nova got 460,000 from the Department of Education in 2001-2003
    Aislinn Centre: Set up in 1999 by Christine Buckley. Since then it has received 184,279.56 from the state
    One in Four: Set up by Colm O Gorman received 504,000 in 2003
    Right of Place: Since it was formed in 1999, Right of Place has received 1,422,476.91 in government funding
    Le Cheile Eile: A small, Navan-based support group, it has received 4,000 in government support
    Irish Soca: A support group run by John Kelly, it receives no public funding
    Soca UK: (No link with above). Led by Mick Waters, it has assisted 1,500 Irish victims resident in Britain and received 162,382
    Alliance for the Healing of Institutional Abuse: Led by Tom Hayes, it represents over 300 victims and has received 49,288 in government funding
    Right to Peace: A Clonmel-based support group chaired by Michael O Brien. It has received funding of 35,000
    Outreach: A British-based support service which has received 1,357,696

    The Sunday Times – Ireland February 01, 2004

    There we have it. The article has one important dimension in that what we know now is what everyone knew then, and that was written six years ago. There are few new revelations except perhaps for Mick Waters.
    Mick felt then he should warn other groups to unite or face exclusion from the consultation process on the future direction of the child abuse commission. The uniting part I have problem with for the article states that SOCA IRL has no connection with SOCA UK. From my previous correspondence on Paddy’s site I was able to provide proof that this was not so. Mick stated that he has assisted 1500 Irish victims living in the UK with a monetary assistance of €162,382 from the Irish taxpayer, and that was in 2003. I have just a few more questions for Mick Waters and feel that we are on mutual ground here when I say that he will be only too glad to help survivors confusion as to what is really going on.
    1] Are you now or have you ever been a member of either of SOCA IRL group?
    2] Why does the above newspaper contradict what we know now?
    3] Where has all the money gone for the years before 2003 and the intervening years since, and can you provide proof?
    4] Based on the figures of 1500 victims that you claimed to represent then and of those you may have helped since, can you provide their names and addresses for clarification?
    5] Have you awarded an annual income to yourself or others for any of those years. If so have you or they paid income tax?
    6] Are you prepared to publish all accounts for those years in a public forum or manner?
    I have been told through the grapevine that I am to be sued for telling the truth. If and when I am served those legal papers they will be published in full on Paddy’s Doyle’s site for I never had or have now or ever will have anything to hide.
    For the readers of this piece please get digging yourself from the Freedom of Information Dept or FOI. There is a lot more. For those others, what have you done or what are you going to do. You are not alone anymore. Get mad and kick some door down even if it’s your own!
    Barry Clifford Email: bgclifford@iol.ie

  21. Martha says:

    Poverty is a state of mind.

    EXPERIENCE is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

  22. crispina says:

    Hi Brian,

    In case you’re interested:

    http://www.oneinfour.org/

    http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/

    Various Survivors Networks USA:
    SNAP http://www.snapnetwork.org/

    Massachusetts SNAP Chapters
    Boston, MA SNAP Chapter

    Survivor Support: Please call one of the following MA advocates:

    Victim’s Advocate: Susan Renehan
    Phone: 508-765-5257
    Email: snqrene@aol.com

    Victim’s Advocate: Robert Costello
    Phone: 781-769-3477

    SNAP Support Group Meetings: for the Boston area are being held monthly at the Winchester Unitarian Society, 468 Main Street in Winchester.

    Worcester, MA

    Contact: Bryan Smith, victim’s advocate
    Phone: 978-928-4721
    Email: brysmi2@aol.com
    News Story: Man Tells of Abuse

    Springfield, MA

    Contact: Peter Pollard
    Phone: 413-247-3271
    Email: springfieldsnap@aol.com
    News Story: New SNAP Chapter Organized

    SNAP Support Group Meetings: Meetings are generally held the third Wednesdays of the month, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in West Springfield.

    Best wishes

  23. Portia says:

    FXR

    “It’s all you own fault you dirty snide little Jess”

    Yes, I heard my 3 week old daughter referred to by the men of “god” as an evil Jess.

    3 WEEKS OLD.!!!

    I was exorcised by these men of “god” age 4 for being “evil”

    Now I LIVE— which is the opposite to EVIL.

    ROMA backwards is AMOR = LOVE.

  24. brian condron says:

    Dear Paddy, Thank you for all your info on this Website and to all your wonderful contributors. I am a survivor of sexual child abuse, having gone through the “Redress” and took the “Hobson’s Choice” settlement pittance for a ruined life. Would anyone please tell me of any update as to the religious orders’ payments and property entrusted to “O’Keefe” for all us victims. I am living here in Massachusetts ,USA and this Website is my only link to what is going on! Sincerely, Brian Condron

  25. Kerrie says:

    My heart breaks when i read these horror stories. I recently read a novel by Kathy O’Beirne, Kathy’s Story. She too told of the horrible childhood she had and how poorly she was treated by these “holy people”. These children were innocent. They were made to suffer continual abuse, beatings and rape. What is the Irish government doing for those that suffered? I believe they will never do enough for these innocent victims. The priests and nuns should be made to suffer as these poor children did. An eye for an eye I say. These victims will never live a normal life. They will forever be tormented by the past.
    Kerrie

  26. Abusers always blame the abused.

    Whoever believes that children are influenced by evil should be locked up for life in psychiatric care. Maybe we should modify Catholic Churches into psychiatric facilities.

    When will the world wake up and see what the Catholic Church really is all about, – oppression and manipulation.
    Sieglinde

  27. FXR says:

    (Paddy you can decide yourself whether to publish this as a comment)

    Little bitch, it’s your fault that I am inflamed
    Come here with Father I want you to bless
    Stop the sobbing or in hell you’ll be blamed
    For making the good Father clean up your mess

    For making me do this you’re evil ingrained
    The Devil has made you a little temptress
    Oh stop you’re complaining it’s not that much pain
    It’s all you own fault you dirty snide little Jess
    It’s the likes of you puts a priest under strain

  28. Portia says:

    Truth at its best.

    The men of “god” use deceptive intelligence- often used by psychopaths, to try and convince people wrong is right and right is wrong.

    And since the sheeple were living in such fear, dared not question.

    We owe it to the children of Ireland to teach them truth, and also to believe them when they come forward to report abuse.

    Let there be no more dark secret places for the real evil ones to hide.

  29. Kathleen O'Malley. " author. Childhood Interrupted" says:

    Paul.
    They are PAEDOPHILES, all such Monsters whether they be protected by the Vatican or otherwise, blame their victims. Do not take on board their blame or listen to their suggestion of prayer. Is is irresponsible and typical of cowardly behaviour. I for one have no respect or faith in the Catholic Church, I can imagine there are many Survivors like me. The so called leaders of the Catholic Church are equally at fault for condoning this Criminal Act, this is probably due to the “Old Boys Act” the fact is they were covering up for each other. However we look at this there is but but one solution all PAEDOPHILES should be Shipped by Cattle Boat to “Alcatraz” and left to abuse each other as they wished. Now that would make me very happy. “If only”.
    (not living in the lap of luxury in a Retirement home).
    Kathleen O’Malley.

  30. Andrew says:

    Powerful piece of writing – and I’ve heard the same things- the same kind of description of children – from dogmatic Catholics.

  31. Gabrielle North says:

    Dear Paddy Its me again I read in horror the church blames the children for sexual abuse how could they and when will the admit the wrong they did to these children some were beaten, starved,most were child slaves,no education so a very hard time adjusting to life the church should be stripped of its assets They should hang their heads in Shame, they have left a very long trail of destruction their worse then Taliban if not the same Gabrielle North Portsmouth

  32. Charles O'Rourke says:

    If children were the agents of the devil tempting these men then in extension murdering them was justified. In fact it would have been seen as an act of God. Real scary logic.

  33. Delma Hughes says:

    Excellent article.
    Whatever excuses suit these folk nothing changes the fact they were adults!. All children in their care 100% vulnerable, without a protector. If evil exists there’s no doubt where it lived.