Celtic Cross on the hill at Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland. Credit: Tom Haymes (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
CNA Staff, Jan 16, 2021 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- Catholic bishops have welcomed an Irish government report on 20th century homes for unmarried mothers and babies run by local governments and often operated by religious orders. They have apologized for the harsh treatment of unmarried mothers and their children, calling this a betrayal of Christ.
“Although it may be distressing, it is important that all of us spend time in the coming days reflecting on this report which touches on the personal story and experience of many families in Ireland,” Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said Jan. 12.
TUAM: “The Church of Jesus Christ was intended to bring hope and healing, yet it brought harm and hurt for many of these women and children. Many were left broken, betrayed and disillusioned.”
Those were the words of the Archbishop of Tuam, Micheal Neary as he unreservedly apologized for the “scandalous way in which vulnerable women and children in our society were deprived of care and dignity and subjected to humiliation,” at Mother and Baby homes in Ireland.
Tuam Children’s Home
A Commission of investigation was set up in 2015 following claims that the bodies of up to 800 babies and children may have been buried in an unmarked mass grave in the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, located in Tuam, Co Galway. The inquiry also covered 17 other Homes.
“The webinar didn t enlighten us, and a lot of survivors are very deflated after it. They were expecting a lot more. It (the report) is not clear, and there are long-range promises that may never happen. What is really upsetting people is there is no challenge to the Church authorities to make a statement at least. Or to offer their own apology. It won t do for the Taoiseach to be apologising on behalf of everybody. That is not going to sit very well with survivors. That is all we got out of it.
Mary Moriarty didn t know anything about the Tuam Children’s Home back in 1975.
Thousands died at mother and baby homes over many decades.
A number of the unmarried mothers never spoke about this to other family members, the commission added.
It said: “Despite the fact that thousands of babies died, the commission is aware of only a few mothers, who were not in the institution when the child died, who subsequently sought information on the burial locations of their children.
“At least one was given incorrect information – this was unforgivable.”
One of the most notorious homes was at Tuam in Co Galway in the west of Ireland, where significant human remains were found.