A woman who was abused in a children’s home run by nuns and priests has criticised the Catholic Church for failing to take part in a forum to address historic abuse.Helen Holland, who was physically and sexually abused in Nazareth House in Kilmarnock, is involved in a number of abuse survivor groups and on the advisory forum for Time to Be Heard, the Government-backed initiative on child abuse in residential care.
She spoke out after Bishop of Motherwell Joseph Devine wrote an article for the Sunday Herald which alleged an anti-Catholic agenda in coverage of child sexual abuse scandals.
He claimed that abuse was no more prevalent within the Catholic Church than in society at large and said abuse in institutions such as Nazareth House in Scotland had been predominantly physical rather than sexual.
Holland described the latter comment as “ignorant” and added: “I know of no research by anyone within the Catholic Church to find out what levels of abuse there were, or to speak with survivors to find out what abuse took place.”
Regarding Bishop Devine’s argument that abuse was equally prevalent in other sections of society, and in the family, Holland said: “It is a social problem, and in any other part of society it is dealt with by alerting the police. The Church’s response was to move priests from one place to another.
“This isn’t about being anti-Catholic. The hierarchy in Scotland can’t seem to see the level of harm this has done to individuals.
“Why do the media keep coming back to it? My answer to the Bishop would be because you haven’t done anything to deal with the pain this has caused in people’s lives.”
Holland said many survivors of abuse in Catholic institutions wished to see the Church taking part in the independent forum for survivors of institutional child sex abuse Time to Be Heard, set up by the Scottish Government.
This pilot forum allows adults who were abused while in the care of the charity Quarriers to come forward and tell their stories, having them recorded, in a bid for some measure of accountability and closure.
Holland said: “Quarriers was chosen to take part because they were willing to engage with the Government. My understanding is that there has not been the same level of communication from the Church.”
Bishop Devine said that the Church had been unable to engage with Time to be Heard as the church’s insurers had advised against it.
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