As more and more revelations come out of Ireland about the systematic abuse of children, we see once more the devastating impact of homosexuals in the priesthood. The greatest abuse occurred in the boys' schools. Many victims were raped and beaten. The girls did not experience sexual abuse from the nuns, but were vulnerable to outside placements and from workers in the schools. Most of the children appeared to suffer from physical abuse, neglect, harshness, and deprivation. The report (and I only read the Executive Summary and selections from the 1,000+ pages) is a little shop of horrors - enough to petrify the heart.Victims, however, have criticized a serious flaw in the report -- the failure to inquire into the courts that sentenced so many of these children to the homes -- in some cases because their mothers were unwed or their fathers were out of work and had difficulty making ends meet. If you want to get at least a small understanding into the complicity of the Irish court system, get the film Evelyn based on the real-life case of Desmond Doyle who lost his children after their mother abandoned the family and Doyle lost his job. It is a compelling story.
Pray for poor Holy Mother Church, betrayed, not only by the abusers, but even more by those in authority who put the institution above the well-being of the little ones. (See The Devil's Triple Play: Clericalism, Secrecy, and Dissent.)
Executive Summary of the Report
Irish abused "cheated of justice" video comments of victims' spokesman, John Kelly
Former mayor shocks Ireland with revelations
'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds
Abuse report - a catalogue of horror
Church ignored sexual abuse
I saw a report about Fr. Flanagan (of Boy's Town). He apparently visited these children's institutions and denounced them. He was then set upon by all manner of officialdom, including the press. So what he had to say was subsequently discarded. It seems that many in the society of the time were to blame as well. It may be disingenuous, as you say, to point the finger only at the religious orders.
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