We ‘apologise unreservedly’ for the Church’s role

The silence had long needed to be shattered – Archbishop-elect Farrell

Archbishop-elect of Dublin, Dermot Farrell echoed the other bishops of Ireland by welcoming the report, describing it as making for “extremely disturbing reading”.

“They reveal deep wounds, and bring to light the profound injustices perpetrated against the vulnerable in our society over a long period of time – against women and children whose lives were regarded as less important than the lives of others,” Dr Farrell continued, “the silence which surrounded this shameful time in the history of our land had long needed to be shattered. The pain of those who were hidden away must be heard; those once largely without a voice now can speak clearly to our world, and we need to listen, even when what we hear pierces to the heart.”

Response

He welcomed the actions of the Government and the commission which made this listening possible, while saying that hearing on its own isn’t enough. A “genuine response” is required: “ours – as a Church and a society – can only be a full apology, without any reservation.  There should never have been a time for avoidance and facile solutions. This country, the Church, our communities and families are better places when the light of truth and healing are welcomed.”

Bishop Fintan Gavin commends ‘courageous’ testimonies

The testimonies of the women and their now adult children inspired a sense of shame and embarrassment for how the Church and society failed to respond compassionately to their needs, the Bishop of Cork and Ross said in his statement.

Second-class citizens

“As Bishop I want to acknowledge the part played by the Church in contributing to this culture of judgement and secrecy which at times showed so little compassion or respect for the women and their babies. They were treated as second-class citizens,” Bishop Gavin said in the statement.

Bishop Gavin acknowledged that only in facing up to the truth of this reality, and the hurt and pain experienced, can the “journey of healing” begin. He thanked Judge Yvonne Murphy and the commission staff for making this possible with their “clear and comprehensive” report.

“They have done a great service to society and to the Church in helping us to know the truth about our past,” Dr Gavin said, before quoting Pope Francis’ words delivered during his 2018 visit to Ireland:

“We ask forgiveness for the children who were taken away from their moms and for all those times when many single mothers were told that to seek their children who had been separated from them – and the same was told to their daughters and sons who were looking for their mothers – that this was a mortal sin. This is not a mortal sin but the Fourth Commandment! We ask forgiveness. May the Lord, sustain and increase this state of shame and repentance and give us the strength to commit ourselves so that these things never happen again and justice may be done. Amen.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin apologises and calls for reflection

The Primate of All Ireland released a statement in which he apologised unreservedly for the role the Church played in “that culture in which people were frequently stigmatised, judged and rejected”. He said he believes the Church must continue to acknowledge before God and others its part “in sustaining what the report describes as a ‘harsh … cold and uncaring atmosphere”.

Reflect

“I ask all those who are in positions of leadership in the Church to study this lengthy report carefully and especially to spend time reflecting on the courageous testimonies of the witnesses to the commission.  Together we must ask ‘How could this happen?’  We must identify, accept and respond to the broader issues which the report raises about our past, present and future,” Archbishop Eamon said in the statement.

The archbishop emphasised the importance of continuing to find ways to reach out to those whose testimonies are central to the report, and urged full respect for survivors’ rights to access personal information about themselves, saying, “I again urge the State to ensure that any remaining obstacles to information and tracing should be overcome”. He also made an appeal for those with information about burial places to come forward, so that the deceased and their families be recognised and never forgotten.

“This report will hopefully speak not just to our past but will also have lessons for today and for future generations. As Church, State and wider society we must ensure together that, in the Ireland of today, all children and their mothers feel wanted, welcomed and loved. We must also continue to ask ourselves where people today might feel similarly rejected, abandoned, forgotten or pushed to the margins.”

Daughters of Charity regret they couldn’t have done more

The Daughters of Charity, who provided the staffing for St Patrick’s /Pelletstown in Dublin, said in a statement that they “so wish and deeply regret that we could not have done more to ease the burden and suffering carried by these women, mostly alone, as they dealt with both a major crisis in their lives and totally unjustifiable rejection”.

They complimented Judge Murphy and her staff on the report, which gives a clearer picture of the attitude and reactions of society at the time towards women who became pregnant out of wedlock. “These women were isolated and shamed, without justification, and we hope that the publication of this report today will give a clearer and more complete picture of the entirety of the mother and baby homes issue in this country,” the statement reads.

Tribute

However, the sisters also paid tribute to the work many of their colleagues did in dedicating “their lives to supporting these women, who arrived at the service in which the sisters were employed to have their babies in secret, with little or no support from family and wider society”.

The Church failed in its mission of compassion, says Archbishop Neary

Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam noted “the scandalous way in which vulnerable women and children in our society were deprived of care and dignity and subjected to humiliation”.

Disillusionment

Archbishop Neary said that the Church was intended to bring “hope and healing”, and yet it brought harm, hurt and disillusionment to the women and their children. This disillusionment extends to the image of the Church, which the revelations “seriously tarnished”.

Archbishop Neary in his statement drew attention to the question of the whereabouts of the fathers, saying “Had the Church been more forthright in acknowledging the responsibility of the men who fathered these children, the outcome for many young mothers and their children would have been very different indeed”.

“The delight and joy which we associate with the birth of a new baby instead became clouded with darkness and gloom. This was a time when single pregnant women and their children were labelled as “unmarried mothers” and “illegitimate”, and then judged, stigmatised, and ostracised by their own families, by their communities, and the Church,” Dr Neary said in the statement.

He continued, “These attitudes were wrong and very sad. The Church failed in its responsibility to love and cherish those who were thus diminished. What this report makes clear to me is that when the Church is not serving with compassion, it is failing. For that I am genuinely sorry. As a Church leader I apologise unreservedly.”

Tuam

Archbishop Neary acknowledged that while the Tuam Children’s Home was owned by Galway County Council and operated by the Bon Secours Sisters, the diocese had a pastoral role in that the priests of Tuam parish served as chaplains to the home.

He also spoke of the discovery of human remains at the Tuam site and the “the disparity which continues to exist between the Register of Deaths, and the absence of burial location records,” which he described as a “critical aspect of this sad story”, which remains unreconciled. He paid tribute to those working to bring justice to the situation, including Catherine Corless, Judge Murphy and her team.

A necessary light cast into a painful episode – Bishop Deenihan

The Bishop of Meath acknowledged the role his diocese had to play in the events of the past, mentioning two institutions in the diocese, one in Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath and one in Dunboyne, Co Meath.

Brave testimonies

“In too many cases, the experience of those who resided in institutions, which were managed by religious congregations and State funded, is a cause of shock and shame.  The brave testimonies of those who entered seeking care but who subsequently endured emotional suffering are bleak and shameful. Like others, I found the details of the high infant mortality very distressing,” Bishop Deenihan said in his statement.

A lack of resources and widespread social poverty contextualise the period of the report, he said, but that the lack of kindness and compassion is also clear.

“When Church, state and society lose respect for the individual and forget that we are made in the image and likeness of God, dignity is forgotten and human life is not valued.  Like many others, I am saddened and shamed by this report.”

Dr Deenihan condemned the “unwarranted but enduring sense of shame” that many of the individuals either resident or born into these institutions are burdened with, adding that “there is also a tendency to forget that every child who was born in these homes had a father and that many of the women who gave birth there conceived in tragic or violent circumstances”, commending the report for addressing that fact clearly.

In line with the other bishops, Dr Deenihan welcomed “the proposal by Government to establish a mechanism to assist those who are trying to establish contact” with family, saying it’s a “welcome and practical step which will enable information to be shared, while also acknowledging that many who gave birth in these institutions want to leave the past behind them”.

Value of the person

“Let us not repeat the errors, failings and sins of the past which have been highlighted and, above all, let us remember and value the dignity of each human person,” Bishop Deenihan’s statement concluded.

‘Great sorrow’ babies died in our care – Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary responded to the report in their statement by acknowledging they “were invited by the local authorities to open a Mother and Baby Home in Cork in the early 1920’s, and later at Roscrea and Castlepollard”.

“As today, we respond to the urgent and unmet societal needs in our mission throughout the world, so we responded at that time and established the three homes in Ireland,” the statement reads.

“Our thoughts today are mainly with the thousands of women who were taken, sent or driven by societal and family pressure to have their babies in secret in mother and baby homes,” they said, continuing “the report shows these homes were established so that pregnant unmarried mothers could have their babies at a remove from society and family, and at facilities other than the County Homes.

Irish society

“Irish society demanded that many unmarried women would have their babies in secret. Some religious communities provided a service in response to these societal norms and demands, driven by the secrecy and shame which surrounded pregnancy out of wedlock.”

“For our part, we want to sincerely apologise to those who did not get the care and support they needed and deserved,” the statement reads.

The sisters drew attention to the sorrow and regret they feel “that babies died while under our care,” particularly in regard to Bessborough in Cork in the 1940’s, saying they did everything possible to assist in their dealings with the commission on this matter.

They concluded their statement by recognising the work many of their sisters did over the decades, with limited State support, which has seen women who spent time in the homes remain in contact with the order for decades.

Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd welcome report

The Good Shepherd Sisters offered thoughts for the women around the country who were pressurised to have their babies in mother and baby homes and to all who were impacted by the secrecy and injustice which then prevailed.

The Good Shepherd Sisters were responsible for Mother and Baby Home in Dunboyne, Co Meath from 1955 to 1991, in a property owned by the council, which was opened at the request of Meath County Council.

Exonerated

They welcomed the fact that the report exonerated the institution, with a comment in the report stating “all the evidence seen by the commission and the evidence of the majority of former residents who spoke to the commission suggests that Dunboyne provided comfortable warm accommodation and the residents were well looked after physically”.

Further to this, the sisters welcomed the commission’s acceptance that the Good Shepherd Sisters “were not directly involved in arrangements for adoption” and its finding that “the commission has seen no evidence of any abuse in Dunboyne.” They acknowledged that despite this, for many women, their time in Dunboyne “will represent the most difficult and sad time of their lives”.

Bon Secours Sisters – ‘We did not live up to our Christianity’

Sister Eileen O’Connor, the Area Leader for the Sisters, offered their “profound apologies” to the women and children of St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, which the order ran from 1925 to 1961.

The statement offered by Sister Eileen acknowledged that “we (Sisters of Bon Secours) failed to respect the inherent dignity of the women and children who came to the Home. We failed to offer them the compassion that they so badly needed. We were part of the system in which they suffered hardship, loneliness and terrible hurt. We acknowledge in particular that infants and children who died at the Home were buried in a disrespectful and unacceptable way”.

She concluded by saying that healing is not possible until what happened is acknowledged, and that they are hoping and praying for healing to come to those who were affected, both living and dead.