Ireland’s Catholic Church and wider society are in shock following revelations on 3 September that an inquiry has uncovered significant numbers of uncovered cases of child sexual abuse in Catholic religious schools.
A total of 2,395 allegations were found relating to 308 schools, involving 884 alleged abusers, over half of whom are now deceased.
The inquiry called on the Irish Government to set up a redress scheme and that religious orders should contribute.
Seventeen special schools – schools for children with disabilities or behavioural difficulties – recorded 590 allegations involving 190 alleged abusers, a particularly high percentage.
The cases relate to at least 22 of the Republic’s 26 counties, and involve schools run by 24 religious orders.
Regarding allegations involving the more major orders: there were 820 allegations in respect of 132 schools run by the Christian Brothers; 329 allegations at six schools run by the Spiritans (formerly Holy Ghost Fathers); and 294 allegations at three schools run by the Brothers of Charity.
The highest number of cases of abuse occurred in the early to mid 1970s.
The inquiry was headed by Senior Counsel Mary O’Toole and was set up after the RTÉ documentary Blackrock Boys revealed the extent of abuse at Blackrock College, a fee-paying Dublin school, run by the Spiritans, which educated many of Ireland’s elite, and at its preparatory school, Willow Park.
The late Mark Ryan and his brother David were past pupils who played a central role in campaigning to highlight the issue.
The inquiry was also motivated by revelations about abuse in a number of schools carried out by the late Father Joseph Marmion, SJ. The prolific paedophile was described as having been seen as “royalty” in Jesuit circles as he was a grand-nephew of Blessed Columba Marmion, a Benedictine who was an abbot in Belgium but originally from Ireland.
Father Marmion was actually born in Liverpool in 1925 but entered the old novitiate at Emo, County Laois, in the Irish midlands. He was ordained in Germany and taught at St Francis Xavier’s College, Liverpool, as well as in a number of Irish schools.
He abused at least 62 boys during his time at Dublin’s famous Belvedere College, the prestigious Clongowes Wood in Kildare and Crescent College in Limerick.
The Jesuit Order’s response has been praised by child support groups for showing openness, in particular for its own decision to name two other deceased child abusers, Fathers Paul Andrews and Dermot Casey.
Both men had headed St Declan’s Special School for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Ireland’s Minister for Education Norma Foley has said the level of abuse disclosed in the scoping inquiry is “truly shocking”
Speaking at a media briefing, she emphasised: “This is the first time that the scale of child sexual abuse allegations in schools run by religious orders has been disclosed, based on information supplied by religious orders themselves, and by survivors.”
She added: “The level of abuse is shocking, it is truly shocking, and so is the number of alleged abusers.”
The toll on victims, according to testimonials given to the inquiry, was devastating.
Ailbhe Conneely of RTÉ reports: “As adults, participants said the impact of the sexual abuse led to serious and ongoing difficulties in relationships, mental and physical health problems, addiction issues, lost career opportunities, and damage to their sense of place and/or community.”
Breakdowns in marriages and intimate relationships were common.
As a result of the report, the Education Minister has announced the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry into abuse in the schools.
While the initial inquiry, referred to as a scoping inquiry, looked solely at Catholic schools, there have been calls for the commission to look at all religious schools, especially given that a number of cases of abuse in Church of Ireland schools have come to light.
The former Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, who was widely seen as very capable and determined in tackling child abuse, has said that he believes the scoping inquiry has actually underestimated the scale of such abuse.
In an interview with RTÉ he expressed particular horror at the extent of abuse in the 17 special schools.
He said religious orders named in the scoping inquiry should be forced to pay compensation if it was found they were “responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions”.
The Garda (police) Commissioner, Drew Harris, has said that the force is investigating if the abuse of children was co-ordinated by paedophile rings.
RTÉ reports that many participants in the inquiry were very clear in their belief that there had been a cover-up in their schools or by the relevant religious order and some believed there was collusion between some institutions of the State and the Church.
Another aspect of the report which has drawn attention is the high number of survivors who left Ireland, either to Britain or elsewhere, due to the pain of their experiences and memories. It lends further weight to arguments that emigration from Ireland down the years was never solely due to economic factors, and in fact involved people being driven away by the trauma of abuse.
The latest revelations come 30 years after the late Brendan Smyth, a notorious paedophile who was a Norbertine priest, became the first priest whose abuse of children received widespread coverage. The handling of extradition warrants for cases in Northern Ireland brought down the government of the day.
The 1994 revelations were followed by many more, a factor which undoubtedly contributed to the decline of Irish Catholicism in the intervening years.
There have been various inquiries since, including the 2005 report on the handling of cases in the Ferns diocese, the 2009 Murphy report on the Dublin archdiocese and the Ryan report on religious orders, as well as the 2011 report on the diocese of Cloyne.
While attendance at Mass was already beginning to fall before 1994, when it was 77 per cent of Irish Catholics, the rapid fall to 60 per cent in 1998 was undoubtedly linked to the initial abuse allegations.
Given that Ireland is now into its third generation since the decline began, it’s no surprise that weekly attendance is now below 30 per cent in the Republic.
Whether the latest revelations will make matters worse for the Church, or whether the damage done to it in Ireland can’t get any worse or has plateaued, remains to be seen, but much will depend on the response of the religious orders and wider Church authorities.