Wednesday 20 May 2009

Catholic Church ignored the sexual abuse of thousands of children by priests in Ireland for 60 years, says official report

[Daily mail article on a new report into decades of abuse in Catholic institutions in Ireland ((much of it I feel has been organized/encouraged by the powers that be for programming purposes; the more severely programmed ones would obviously have never had the opportunity of making their voices heard)); traumatized by nuns and priests physically and sexually ((but the resulting mental trauma of this being the most important to MK/psychological manipulation)), typical official report ((victims have been calling it a 'whitewash', no abusers will be charged or anything)). I was recently very moved by the below documentary 'Deliver Us From Evil' on a similar theme (note the child's split mind motif/symbolism [the child's half face inside the crucifix] on the poster below sitting on the priest's lap), using one example (the pedophile priest they focus on was himself abused and seems to have suffered from a dissociative disorder) and how the Catholic church has been actively covering it up ((there was no need to cover up child abuse/pedophilia a hundred years ago or so and before [it's only in recent times that attitudes have changed and they can no longer do it with impunity] as it was not understood/recognized at all for the very real evil that it is [I view this as another major reason why there's so much abuse in the church also])) and all that important stuff that needs to be known. Things like the Catholic church are just vehicles (and were set up I think in part for this purpose) for this abuse/programming (they created the sexual repression in their clergy through abstinence, which they obviously must have had some idea that it would lead to these extremes like pedophilia ["alter-boys" (altar/alter) are aptly named]. It's difficult for people to accept that they've always wanted the abuse to be going on *((the fact that the #1 protector of Catholic pedophiles in the world, Pope Ratzinger [see that link with 'Sex Crimes and the Vatican', a similar documentary + more on the rat's role in covering up child abuse; his reward for his crime was to be made Pope] was given immunity from prosecution by President George Bush Jnr specifically says a lot [if you are aware of the Bush family's role in MK]))* and it always has been going on [many of these pedophile priests are themselves intergenerational abuse victims of their own Catholic families].)] [Edit: I'll change the article when Daily Mail alters there's so this may change a few times as they sort it, this Sky News one is pretty concise 'Thousands abused in Catholic Child Care' (which is itself a big underestimation [most abuse victims don't report it + various other reasons]; p.s. I am a "confirmed" Catholic btw, having been put through the tedious process whilst not believing in any of it)]




  • Abuse was 'endemic' in boy's institutions
  • Safety of children in general was not a consideration
  • 216 church and state institutions involved
  • More than 800 individuals identified as abusers
  • No abusers will be prosecuted
  • Children 'corrupted' by sexual activity were punished

More than 800 sex offenders repeatedly abused thousands of children in Irish institutions run by the Catholic Church and the country's government, a damning report revealed today.

The Child Abuse Commission detailed a catalogue of disturbing and chronic sexual, physical and emotional abuse inflicted on thousands of disadvantaged, neglected and abandoned children by both religious and lay staff since the 1930s.

Angry exchanges took place between Commission staff and victims of abuse today when they were barred from the launch of the report in a central Dublin hotel.


Kevin Flannigan, right, and John Kelly, left, from the group Survivors of Child Abuse, protest at not being allowed into the launch of the long-awaited Child Abuse Commission report at the Conrad Hotel Dublin today

Artane Industrial School in Dublin. The report states that sexual abuse was a 'chronic' problem there, while a victim stated that former pupils 'never forgot' the horrors they suffered at Artane

The report identified more than 800 individuals who were physically and sexually abusing witnesses while they were children.

No abusers will be prosecuted as a result of the inquiry.

The dangers to the children caused by bringing them into contact with sexual predators were not taken into account, the inquiry found.

But the bad publicity that would result if the scandals broke was a consideration in the cover-up.

The physical abuse of boys in Daingean was extreme. Floggings were ritualised beatings... Children who passed through Daingean were brutalised by the experience.

'I'm very angry, very bitter, and feel cheated and deceived ... It has devastated me and it will devastate most victims because there is no criminal proceedings and no accountability whatsoever'

The report found: 'The risk (to children), however, was seen by the congregations in terms of the potential scandal and bad publicity should the abuse be disclosed.'

Judge Sean Ryan, who chaired the Commission, concluded that when confronted with evidence of sex abuse, religious authorities responded by transferring the sex offenders to another location, where in many instances they were free to abuse again.


Justice Sean Ryan launches the report at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin today - but refuses to take questions from journalists

'There was evidence that such men took up teaching positions sometimes within days of receiving dispensations because of serious allegations or admissions of sexual abuse,' the report said.

'The safety of children in general was not a consideration.'

Sexual abuse was endemic in boys' schools while in girls' schools, children were subjected to predatory abuse by male employees, visitors and while on outside placements.

In addition to being sex assaults and being hit and beaten, witnesses described other forms of abuse such as being flogged, kicked and otherwise physically assaulted, scalded, burned and held under water.

Abuse was rarely reported to the State authorities but on the rare occasion the Department of Education was informed, it colluded with the religious orders in the culture of silence.

The Department generally dismissed or ignored sexual abuse complaints and never brought them to the attention of the Garda.

'At best, the abusers were moved but nothing was done about the harm done to the child. At worst, the child was blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely,' the report stated.


Judge Sean Ryan, centre, delivers the Child Abuse Commission report at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin to a media frenzy today


John Kelly, from the group Survivors of Child Abuse, protests at not being allowed into the hotel for the launch today

Children were so badly neglected, survivors spoke of scavenging for food from waste bins and animal feed.

Unsupervised bullying in boys' schools often left smaller, weaker children without food.

Accommodation was cold, spartan and bleak while children were often left in soiled, wet work clothes after being forced to toil for long hours outdoors in farms, the report found.

Victim John Walsh, of leading campaign group Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Soca), called the report a hatchet job that left open wounds gaping.

'The little comfort we have is the knowledge that it vindicated the victims who were raped and sexually abused,' said Mr Walsh.

He progressed through six schools where he physically terrorised and sexually abused children... Parents attempted to challenge his behaviour but he was persistently protected.

'There are a lot of people that have committed suicide, there are a lot of people that have ended up in hospitals and they have been forgotten about... but (as pupils) you never forgot'

'I'm very angry, very bitter, and feel cheated and deceived.

'I would have never opened my wounds if I'd known this was going to be the end result.

'It has devastated me and will devastate most victims because there is no criminal proceedings and no accountability whatsoever.'

Responding to the report, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the new leader of Catholics in England and Wales, told ITV News: 'It's very distressing and very disturbing and my heart goes out today first of all to those people who will find that their stories are now told in public...

'Secondly, I think of those in religious orders and some of the clergy in Dublin who have to face these facts from their past which instinctively and quite naturally they'd rather not look at.


The Most Rev Vincent Nichols says those who perpetrated the abuse should be held to account

'That takes courage, and also we shouldn't forget that this account today will also overshadow all of the good that they also did.'

Asked whether those who perpetrated violence and abuse should be held to account, he said: 'Yes they should, no matter how long ago it happened.

'In this country now we have a very steady and reliable system of co-operation with police and social services who actually now hold us in good regard.

'They know that we are reliable and trustworthy partners. Those that abused the trust that was placed in them should be brought to public account.'

Asked whether legal and police process should take place, he said: 'Yes, absolutely. If the offences are such that demand that.'

Asked why abuse seemed more prevalent in the Catholic Church than other faiths, he said: 'Every time there is a single incident of abuse in the Catholic Church it is a scandal.

'And I'm glad it's a scandal. I would be very worried if it wasn't a scandal... I hope these things don't happen again but I hope they're never a matter of indifference.'

Tom Sweeney, who spent five years at industrial schools including two years at one where the report said sexual abuse was a 'chronic problem', said Dublin's Artane Industrial School continued to haunt its former residents.

'Anybody that came into Artane did not come out a happy person and unfortunately there are a lot of people that have committed suicide, there are a lot of people that have ended up in hospitals and they have been forgotten about.

'You didn't forget about Artane and you never forget about it.'

Victims hope the massive report - five volumes totalling 2,500 pages - will finally reveal the full extent of the abuse inflicted on them by Roman Catholic nuns and priests.


Left: Catholic Bishop of Derry Dr Seamus Hegarty in 2005 discussing child sex abuse allegations made against 26 priests who worked in Co Londonderry. Right: Irish Archbishop of Armagh Sean Baptist Brady during a press conference for the Child Abuse Commission in 2002

Roughly 1,090 men and women who were abused in 216 schools and institutions all over the country gave evidence over the nine-year investigation

Several hundred institutions run by religious orders, including industrial schools, institutions for children with disabilities and ordinary day schools, have been examined.

The report proposed 21 ways the government could recognise past wrongs, including building a permanent memorial, providing counselling and education to victims, and improving Ireland's current child protection services.

An interim report published in 2003 gave the testimonies of more than 700 men and women who recalled being beaten on every part of their body with objects including leather straps, sticks, farm implements, and even hurling sticks.

Others were sexually abused and some described being gang raped.

Maeve Lewis, of support group One in Four, said victims want a well-documented acknowledgement of the abuse.

'Over 35,000 children from the 1940s onwards were condemned to live under a regime of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect,' she said.

'While these institutions no longer exist, people who are now aged from 30 to 80 years live day by day with the impact their experiences had on their lives.'


Children at work in one of the notorious Magdalen asylum, earlier this summer [typo?]

Ms Lewis added: 'If it is a thorough acknowledgement and documents rigorously what people experienced, then it may bring some closure.'

A government compensation scheme has been set up for victims of institutionalised child abuse - at an expected cost of £725million.

The names of alleged perpetrators will not be published - except for those already convicted - after several religious orders began legal action against the Commission.

But the inquiry is expected to produce specific findings against a number of institutions.

Among the many orders under investigation were the Sisters of Mercy and Christian Brothers, which ran the largest number of children's institutions.

Some of the allegations in the report cover events more than 60 years ago and many of the alleged perpetrators are dead or infirm.

The Commission was set up in 2000 by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern after a TV exposé.

Its first presiding judge, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, quit in 2003 amid accusations that the Republic's Department of Education - responsible for inspecting and regulating most of the institutions - was not co-operating with her requests for documents.

A second report, examining how the Catholic Church handled sex abuse complaints, will be published by the Commission in July.

Key steps in struggle to confront child abuse in the Catholic Church

June 1994
Catholic priest Brendan Smyth pleads guilty to 17 counts of indecently assaulting five girls and two boys in Belfast. His order, the Norbertines, spent decades shuttling him among Irish and American parishes and harbored Smyth from British arrest.

November 1994
Taoiseach Albert Reynolds resigns, and his government collapses, amid claims that his attorney general colluded with church authorities to delay the British extradition demand for Smyth. It shatters the taboo against pursuing criminal charges against priests.

July 1995
Former altar boy Andrew Madden becomes first person to speak publicly about abuse by a priest. Madden says the Church paid him €35,000 to keep quiet about three years of assaults by Fr Ivan Payne. Archbishop Desmond Connell denies the deal until Madden provides documentary proof of church payoff. Case spurs hundreds to pursue civil lawsuits against church authorities.

January 1996
Panel of Irish Catholic leaders instruct bishops to tell senior police officers ‘without delay’ about all suspected sex-abuse cases. Some bishops continue to suppress such information over the coming decade.

February 1996
Dear Daughter, a documentary shown on RTÉ details abuse suffered by Christine Buckley and others at St Vincent's Industrial School, Goldenbridge, Inchicore, Dublin.

July 1997
After serving prison term in Northern Ireland, Smyth is extradited south and pleads guilty to 74 counts of sexually abusing 20 boys and girls between 1958 and 1993. He dies of a heart attack one month into 12 year sentence.

January 1998
Payne is convicted in Dublin on 14 counts of sexually abusing eight boys aged 11 to 14. He serves only four years in prison.

March 1999
Fr Sean Fortune commits suicide in prison while awaiting trial on 66 criminal charges of molesting and raping 29 boys in the southeast Ferns diocese. One Fortune victim, former altar boy Colm O'Gorman, launches victims support group One in Four. It lobbies government for investigations into abuse cases, particularly in Ferns.

April 1999
Groundbreaking documentary series ‘States of Fear’ by RTÉ exposes abuse of children in church-run workhouses, reformatories and orphanages since the 1940s.

May 1999
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern issues ‘long overdue apology’ to all those abused in church-run institutions and vows to establish a financial compensation board and a fact-finding commission into extent of abuse. Ms Justice Mary Laffoy is appointed to head the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

May 2000
Government gives investigatory powers to Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse to measure causes and extent of unchecked child abuse in institutions from 1937 onward.

July 2001
The deadline for complaints of abuse to be made to the Commission. Some 3,149 people ask to testify.

April 2002
Ferns Bishop Brendan Comiskey becomes first, and only, church figure to resign because of failures to stop abuse. He admits he did too little to stop pedophile priests.

December 2002
Government establishes board to pay compensation to people who suffered sexual, physical or mental abuse in church-run institutions. Payouts require claimants to give up their right to sue church and state authorities. Taxpayers, not the church, cover bulk of cost.

September 2003
High Court Judge Mary Laffoy resigns complaining that the Department of Education, which holds most records on church-run institutions, is obstructing her investigation into child abuse. Her successor, Justice Sean Ryan, says probe must severely limit the number of abuse cases it considers or it will never finish.

April 2004
A Vatican modernizer and diplomat, Diarmuid Martin, replaces Connell as Dublin archbishop. Pledges full cooperation with state and police in exposing past cover-ups of abuse and protecting children in future.

June 2004
Judge Ryan announces the Commission will not name abusers unless they have been convicted. The Christian Brothers religious order drops legal actions against the Commission.

July 2004
The Christian Brothers testify at a public hearing that files only recently discovered in its Rome-based archive show evidence of 30 canonical trials of brothers based on proven incidents of child sexual abuse against boys in their care from the 1930s onwards.

October 2005
Investigation led by retired Supreme Court justice finds that church, police and state authorities did too little to stop sexual abuse of hundreds of children by 21 priests in Ferns. Report says Ferns bishops sheltered and promoted priests known to have raped altar boys and molested schoolgirls on an altar.

December 2005
Residential Institutions Redress Board says more than 14,000 people who claim to have suffered childhood abuse in church-run institutions have filed claims for state payouts.

December 2008
Board says it has paid nearly 12,000 victims average of €64,230 each, about 2,000 claims remain. Cost including lawyers' fees expected to reach €1.1bn.

May 20, 2009
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse unveils 2,575-page report into thousands of child abuse cases in institutions. Two more reports into the church's protection of sex-predator priests in the Dublin archdiocese and the southwest diocese of Cloyne may be published later this year.

18 comments:

Tigerlily said...

Sorry but this post is not really related to the story at hand (although, this article is quite distrubing) I was wondering something.

Do the themes in music and movies work to compartmentalize/fractionate the minds of those who view them?

skrambo said...

This is disgusting... Hopefully people get a clue (not likely, frustratingly) and push these sick monsters out of a position of power, I can't think of any "punishment" since they are victims themselves perpetuating a gruesome cycle. I guess that's where they get their feeling of religious power from, abusing defenseless children... How dare they push their ideologies onto the world well-knowing that they ritualistically steal the souls of young people who had no say in what sick shit they were getting into.

I was reading in a book how Shamans feared lightning because they thought if your "astral body" was electrocuted it would become detached or die. Perhaps that's another part of why MK programmers trance their victims before applying electro-shock, to basically make them "soulless" (no astral body = no dreaming mind, no spirit, in a trance your astral body "hovers" near your physical body so it would definitely be affected if your body was electrocuted, being attached to it etherically and all, while they program your physical mind with implanted images and procedures, like a piece of hardware. Your intuitive side/spirit cannot intervene at any point or help because it is simply not there.).

Benjamin S said...

Not related to the story at hand? Really? You can't see the relationship between what I've written and the latest example of Catholic (ritual) abuse in this report?

As far as your question goes; I've speculated that that sort of thing might be the case (i.e. all the shattering symbolism could have a cumulative subliminal 'shattering' effect on the mind [they're trying to BREAK YOU so you are more suggestible/easily controlled, kind of repeated an answer I gave in a comment in this post]) but I don't know about that for sure, I do not think that is the primary motivation for putting these symbols into their work (it is always multifaceted too).

Cheers tommy, fascinating comment as usual.

Anonymous said...

Benjamin,

I think you misunderstood Emily. She means HER post is not related to the story at hand.

Benjamin S said...

Whoops, you're absolutely right; my bad! Communication malfunction mixed with paranoia! Thanks so much for pointing that out.

Please accept my sincerest apologiez Emily, you're open minded comments have been really refreshing and led to some really great responses from other commenters in the last post (I would just add, I don't think most people of my generation will stop watching TV/movies/etc so don't worry TOO much [though it's definitely healthier to avoid it altogether] about the effect these symbols have on your brain; my take is that if you are aware of their significance then whatever effect it would have I'd think would be lessened because you are consciously aware of them, perhaps lessening it's effect on your subconscious [I think the main reason these symbols are so often used is more to do with the mentality of the people that control it ((they literally can't help themselves, or they're just arrogant)) rather than a specific conspiracy to fuck with our heads, though that still factors in I'm sure]). Confusion came about due to our differing "post"/"comment" word usage (I should have understood though, I am obviously very easily confused ;P), entirely my misinterpretation.

Anonymous said...

Just to let you know I made a post on the avril lavigne article to clear up what I meant. I have actually looked at the article a fair few times but it seems not thoroughly enough I didn't notice you're edit otherwise I would have responded earlier. BTW I was the same poster who asked about taken on your dark knight post aswell as the one who asked you what you're first article was

Azrael said...

Hi Benjamin,
I've been reading your blog off and on for a while now, and you have some great posts. Keep up the good work.

I just wanted to put my two cents in on Emily's question.

My take is that stuff in music and movies doesn't fracture or compartmentalize the mind, but I do think there is subconscious programming like NLP.

I also think these symbols and things are used for people watching or listening who already have programming(monarch, alice in wonderland etc.) and the words or symbols trigger their programming.

sara said...

i went to a roman catholic school and experienced intergenerational abuse....and I am in the music industry....I am coming to the realzation that I could be a victim...but i can say one thing...the abuse related to the catholic churches and schools is REAL! Some things I can't remember, but I am slowly putting the peices together.

Roman catholic schools are used a "house" where they can monitor mind controlled victims. Who went to these schools? Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Aaliyah, Diddy, and many more. I remember that our teachers would let the students go wild for a moment of time...tearing up chairs, act crazy......then a teacher would come in and start yelling throwing books everywhere..threatening us----this was very confusing to children, including myself.

I also remember this...I will never forget this...I was going to the bathroom, and I saw a shadow of a little boy in a room with two teachers...he was screaming to the top of his lungs! I was so scared, he seemed like he was trying to get away........

These are the only memories I can remember from the Roman catholic school..and with me having such a good long term memory, I can't remember a lot from the school....no other good memories.....sick....

Anonymous said...

"216 church and state institutions involved"

6x6x6=216

Anonymous said...

Just 2 Irish actors whose names popped up in my mind: GABRIEL BYRNE&PIERCE BROSNAN (LIAM NEESON was already mentioned :):...

Chris

Anonymous said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1185450/British-Spider-Man-3-actress-commits-suicide-Paris-apartment.html

Chris

Anonymous said...

I think a lot of the mk syhmoolism in films is directed at existing mk victims, and part of the reason for its inclusion is to make these people feel more 'normal'. ie: When victims see fellow mk victims, scenarios, symbols, plots, stories, etc. sneaked into mainstream films, it may help them 'normalize' themselves with the outside world. They are made to feel that both what they have experienced and are experiencing
or will be experiencing , is normal. I do not wish to offer an overly simplistic explanation, however, for what is likely a far more complex situation.I suspect that some or many of the films are used for/during the actual programming, some of the actors are used for/during programming,
and some are used for 'maintenance' of people who might view it later. Also the films are a source of money for the network, maybe in more ways than many realize.

Tigerlily said...

No offense taken! Internet communication can be quite complex and confusing, and reading over my post, I could see how it could be misconstrued. At any rate, I do try and stop watching television and do more worth while things, but it is so hard to, if I may say, unplug myself from the matrix. I usually just restrict myself from the mindless dribble that they put on mtv/vh1/E! (with the exception of True life, one of the few tv shows worth watching, and the soup because it is just hilarious!). I have noticed how messed up tv has become though. Even though these symbols have been used in media for a long time, I feel that it has been used so much more so in recent times as opposed to maybe ten or fifteen years ago.

It is interesting that my parents never let me or my brothers and sisters watch disney cartoons/movies because of their occult nature, I guess I should thank them...

smartnews said...

Thank you for your article on clergy abuse. We have information on clergy abuse and ritual abuse crimes at http://ritualabuse.us

Imitrex said...

I believe these people should go to jail, should be condemned for hiding these things for a long time for the damage they have done to children by sex and cause strange sexual disorders for allowing these things happen and cause mental disorders too.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

Parallels to America's own BOYS TOWN in Omaha Nebraska (Father Flanagan (sp?). I was raised in Omaha during the time of the infamous Franklin Credit Scandal which was basically an exposure of money hungry bastards, local and high level politicians trafficking young kids (many from Boys Town and the local Girls Club). Google stuff like the Ted Gunderson report, Franklin Credit Scandal, Larry King/Franklin. My buddy Charlie Rogers was murdered and was framed as a suicide. He was drafted into the mix of kids moving drugs and probably recruiting kids and teens along the way. There's only about 2 sentences on him but he's one of the 15 silenced during that time. If you get lucky enough to read what the Head guy at Boys Town had to say in a Gunderson interview, he was full aware of a satanic ritual sacrifice/murder of a boy and "tried reporting it" but no action was taken. Finally the perp bastard was relocated (as is the customary way to handle church indiscretions) to another state under the guise of being alcoholic.

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