Retired Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has called for criminal prosecutions for those involved in the abuse of children in religious order-run schools and prompt compensation for victims.
He said religious leaders who covered up abuse in schools have damaged both children and their own organisations.
The Government this week announced that a Commission of Investigation will be established on foot of a ‘truly shocking’ scoping inquiry that uncovered 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse in over 300 religious schools over four decades.
The claims refer to 884 alleged perpetrators, of whom fewer than half – around 400 – are still alive.
Abuse rates were particularly high in special schools, with 590 allegations involving 190 alleged abusers in 17 schools.
Archbishop Martin said the child sexual abuse uncovered was ‘shattering’ – and added that he feared the true number could be higher still.
‘I’m extraordinarily struck by the numbers in the special schools,’ he said yesterday. ‘Sexual abuse of children is a vile thing, but sexual abuse of particularly vulnerable children is very shocking,’ Dr Martin told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne.’
‘The second thing is that the numbers are very high, for example, if you look at the fee-paying schools. One of the reasons for this is that I think most people may have thought this scoping inquiry was primarily about those schools. This would mean, I think, that the numbers regarding other schools are probably underestimated and probably higher. The other Church boarding schools in Ireland, and the diocesan colleges, are not there at all.’
He called for a public figure in the Government to take the lead on the issue and demand that the individuals and groups involved face responsibility.
This person can explain how the inquiry is progressing and any obstacles it might face, Dr Martin said, because ‘there are clear legal problems that we have to face’.
He added: ‘The other thing is, the descriptions in this report are shattering, but the damage is much wider than just the actual physical abuse. Child sexual abuse takes away the entire self-esteem of a child. The abuser is actually saying to the child, “I can do anything I like with you – you’re worthless” and that’s the thing that drags right throughout their life.’
‘And then the abuse doesn’t just damage the child. It damages the parents, the spouses, generations, children… so the numbers and the incidents are frightening, but the reality is much greater, and that’s the sad thing,’ Dr Martin said.
Criminal prosecutions must continue, and victims must be compensated promptly, he said, adding: ‘Especially because many of the survivors are elderly, and many of the perpetrators are elderly, and we will never come to a just system if we don’t start doing it quickly.’
Dr Martin told how, when he became Archbishop of Dublin in 2004 and needed to address reports of abuse within the Dublin diocese, he set aside a Saturday to read files.
‘By Saturday afternoon, I simply had to throw the files on the ground. It was so upsetting. And this [scoping inquiry] is worse,’ he said.