PATSY McGARRY Irish Times 26/06/09
THE ABUSIVE conduct of priests, nuns and brothers in residential institutions for children, as disclosed in the Ryan report, “is a matter which demands forensic probing and explanation,” President Mary McAleese has said. It also demanded “a fresh focus from all of us as a civic society on what we need to do to truly cherish the children of this nation equally”.
Speaking in Trinity College Dublin last night at an event to mark the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture today, she said “it is only a few weeks since the Ryan report exposed the extent to which vulnerable children in institutional care were subjected to sexual and physical abuse which was cruel, inhuman and degrading.
“Much of the abuse took place in the professional care of men and women committed to Christianity.
“Their systemic betrayal of the great Christian commandment to love one another is a matter which demands forensic probing and explanation.”
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