Saturday March 13 2010 -Irish Independent.
Bruce Arnold.
THE Irish State has connived in the concealment of abuse and has consistently failed to regulate state institutions and the church. Historically, it has done so on a massive scale in respect of industrial school abuse and has allowed a climate of uncontrolled abuse to prevail within diocesan systems.
The latest example, following the failures revealed last week in the case of Tracey Fay, shows that the current fosterage and care system in the State is largely unregulated and has involved abuse by foster parents who have not been vetted.
Apart from promises of a tightening-up and assurances that legislative loopholes will be addressed, nothing has actually been done.
There are serious deficiencies in our laws in respect of bringing to book those who conceal and protect abusers. These deficiencies are pleaded as the reason for difficulties in the past, yet they are still not being remedied despite the clear evidence of an ongoing problem in that precise area.
The State has not regulated the organisations supposedly representing those who were abused in the industrial schools.
Although substantial sums have been distributed to them without proper supervision, accounting for that money has not been required, nor have the internal justifications for receiving it been required from representative organisations.
One such organisation circulated its ‘members’ (by contact list), telling them the Residential Institutions Redress Unit had requested a list of those it represented and had asked for accounts from 1999 to the present. Giving the list of people required permission, since otherwise it was a breach of confidentiality. Such confidentiality has been used to block details about membership, throwing into doubt the relationship between membership and funding.
The Redress Unit’s request suggests that such accounts have not been sought before. If so, it reveals a huge gap in the monitoring of large sums of money that were dispersed, year on year, to organisations whose memberships were not checked. What else was not checked?
It is not difficult to relate these and other developments to the growing expectation that money on offer to the State by the religious orders will somehow be distributed to the victims of abuse.
The grossly unequal deal of settlement that exonerated the religious orders, placing legal culpability and financial responsibility on the State at the beginning of investigations by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, has been a major point of criticism. For years, the orders stood their ground on the basis of the deal. But with the Ryan report’s revelations of the scale and depth of abuse depravity, together with public outcry, this changed.
Abuse organisations overlook the fact that Irish taxpayers filled the multimillion-euro gap. It is Irish taxpayers who should be recompensed for the Government’s unequal deal with the orders.
The abuse organisations see it differently. Irish SOCA (Survivors of Child Abuse) met in mid-February to debate what should be done with these additional contributions, as though it had already been decided that the money was for those who had been abused.
Taxpayers might have a different view of this altogether.
SOCA UK took a rather more blunt approach. This favoured a ballot of all survivors on the dispersal of the money, so long as their applications to the Redress Board were successful.
The board would send out the ballots and after that ‘a simple majority should carry the day’!
In this way, according to the organisation, survivors would be treated with respect and dignity for once in their lives’, having a say in what happens to them.
This will not happen. There will be no automatic dispersal of the money from the orders or the bishops’ conference. In fact, it is unlikely that there will be any dispersal at all.
In my own judgment, it would be wrong of survivors to entertain expectations. Some do not wish for it. There is no universal greed for further recompense. People have refused financial help, others have put their awards behind them, having no wish to open what is inherently a painful and undignified set of experiences.
ALSO, the legal difficulties are great. Reopening the Redress Board’s work could face legal challenge. The State stands on the legal adjudication of the board, carefully worked out according to different measures for different forms of abuse.
The adjudications were seen by many as prejudiced in favour of conserving the resources of the State. They were not in line with court settlements, but below them. Nevertheless, they conformed to a rigorous pattern with acceptance requiring confidentiality, despite lack of full satisfaction.
The findings, in general, were: a) that there was abuse and b) that it deserved recompense. In other words, what was the damage, measured in cash? It was a finite measure. If that territory has to be re-entered, it requires new legislation or the amending of the Redress Act and could lead to demands for a rewriting of the scales of recompense. There is nothing in the present law that allows for this new departure.
Moving outside the present legislation is dubious, since it throws into doubt what has so far been done under the law, as well as any expectation whatever of further money being made available to the victims of abuse in the industrial schools. That route, it would seem to me, is over for them. They know it.
Renewed recompense would demonstrate that the payouts were inadequate and therefore would undermine the basis of the State system as created by the Oireachtas.
The State’s recent request for money was based on the original imbalance of contributions made by the State and by the religious orders, greatly to the State’s and therefore the taxpayers’ disadvantage.
The surrender of that money by the orders follows the massive revelation of their criminal abuse. The only good thing to come out of this is the implicit recognition by the State that it got the whole thing wrong.
barnold@independent.ie
Irish Independent
gearoid, if you check the law re divorce, you will see how the battered women have to remain with their abuser for 4 to 5 years before even applying to escape. In that time many women are ending up in mental hospitals with the abusers grinning and telling the judges- ” see, i told you she was mad”
The professionals are totally clueless- old training from draconian times. That knowledge is controlled by the same men on “god”. That god is the one the men in dresses take orders from. NO one has ever seen him of course. if any other human being said they hear voices, they get locked away, except for the men in dresses.
Alas Gearoid I do not overstate my case. you see the church controls the courts behind the scenes. it controls the HSE too.
Our chance to shed light on the demonisation of Eve ill womb men is now.
You are so right to seize this opportunity and for all good kindly men and women to join forces.
Portia, I hope you overstate your case, when I left this country 27 years ago I felt the real and appalling situation for women and children which you describe here had already improved. No doubt the forces of reaction had already come into play as they have in the current situation and perhaps progress was stifled. If your assertions are right, then the women of Ireland have a hard fight ahead of them. However the church is now at such a disadvantage that it is the moment for a rout. Any Man of Ireland who believes in a society of equals will be right there with you. Let us not lose the opportunity!
Obey, Obey, Obey
Catholic Church Guilty of Ordering Women and Children Back To Male Abusers.
Now that the light of truth has been shed on the Vatican and its role in keeping abuse of children hidden, it is time to expose the suffering endured by thousands of Irish mothers and their children who were ordered back home to their violent husbands by Catholic priests after they had escaped such abuse.
It was standard practice in Ireland to make mothers return with their children – No support given! No help given! no advice given!
Just “Get back to your husband woman, that’s your place!”
“The only way you can leave your husband is in a coffin, you know the rules of the Church”
Obey, Obey, Obey.
If these women defied the Priest and did not return then they were castigated, labeled as `Harlots’. and declared outcasts. Most went into exile and were never heard of again.
Family and friends sided with the Catholic priest, so the victims were further abused and isolated.
Women born into the Catholic Church in other countries experienced similar abuse from the priests and their cohorts for simply daring to escape violence. The indoctrination of girls in Catholic schools worldwide regarding their role in society is rarely spoken of and the abuse of women in Catholic families continues to be hidden.
Catholic Priests who ordered children and mothers back to the violence and abuse did not do so alone but were operating according to higher orders.
So, where exactly did these orders come from?
The teachings on this go back to St Augustine who lived in a dysfunctional family where his mother was beaten and forced to obey the violent father.
This “saint” then set about writing on how it is good for women to suffer at the hands of their husbands, because all women are evil and need to repent for the sin of being born female.
He also followed the teachings of Aristotle who also saw the subjugation of women as being necessary for society.
The patriarchal church also taught that women who think they are being abused are simply deceiving themselves and should not be believed. Keeping the women in the institution of marriage was all that mattered.
Children of the marriage were not believed either regarding abuse by the father, as that made would make him look bad in the eyes of the community and men’s reputations and good standing had to be protected.
By saying and doing nothing about the abuse, the Roman Catholic Church was thereby encouraging the denial of the realities of domestic violence and intra-familial terrorism and the extreme sufferings of abused mothers and their children.
Many mothers returned to the violence as a consequence of the Priests directives and suffered broken health and premature deaths. Children often suffered serious mental disorders or lapsed into crime and prostitution and drug addiction.
Priests would commonly say to abused mothers, “His (the abusive violent father) soul must be saved! You must return to him and stay with him to save his soul or he will not be admitted to heaven when he dies!”
The same patriarchal thinking has continued today into the legal system, whereby abused mothers and children are made to suffer for daring to come forward and try to escape.
This abuse has been allowed to continue into the next generation, thus perpetuating the cycle.
Solicitors and Barristers warn protective mothers not to dare mention to Family Court Judges the abuse of their children by fathers, citing “ judges are sick of hearing about child abuse” and so abuse goes on and on, like it did in the Catholic Church.
Some judges in Ireland still order women and children home to “be good little girls and obey.”
These are women of 40 years, so hardly girls, but this is how patriarchal judges see them.
All part of the brainwashing and social conditioning of females by the Roman Catholic Church. The holy sanctity of marriage and `Till death do us part…” mattered above all else and certainly the sufferings of mothers and children were of no account against the Catholic Church teachings.
Society still ostracizes victims of domestic violence, citing “she made her bed, now, let her lie in it”.
She has dishonored the family name and must leave the community.
But the husband is free to use and abuse his wife and children.
The same patriarchal system, which labeled all women as evil, still uses the same excuses in law to allow the abuser to walk free.
Here are a few well-known and typical excuses used by the RC Church and the Judiciary.
“All women are evil” ´ “Women’s only role is to produce babies”
“All women are emotional, so therefore in need of locking up in the “Looney Bins” should they step out of line.
It is also very simple for a violent husband to have his wife committed to a mental institution so that his image is protected.
Remember how it was, one word from the priest or the brutal husband and the men in white coats arrived and the mother disappeared from society. Nobody was allowed to speak of her again.
“That will teach her to keep her mouth shut about male abusers”.
“That will teach the rest of the strong women to keep quiet about abuse too”
Of course the real reason for locking women away was to get possession of the land and property and children.
This is no different to the days of the witch-hunts, when the Vatican men of God ordered that women be burned at the stake in order to get their property.
It is also worth nothing that the Catholic Church singles out strong independent female children from a young age for persecution, aided and abetted by the Government agencies, especially social services.
Young girls were subjected to services of Exorcism by Catholic priests in order to break their spirit and render them obedient.
This same stigma remaining attached to them in motherhood which meant their children were stolen by the State.
It sounds so crazy in this day and age, yet it has been happening for generations and is still happening in secret.
The HSE- Social Services use the same secrecy rules as the Vatican.
It uses the same tactics of threats and intimidation also.
So too, the Family Courts.
Hardly surprising when the Judiciary, the legal profession, and the government are also controlled by the Catholic Institution in Ireland.
Most judges, social workers, Guardians, solicitors, barristers play by the Catholic rules for fear of rocking the boat and the truth be exposed for all to see.
Careers and incomes are dependent on these collusions and collaborations and none may break the silence and expose the injustices and atrocities in which they are all complicit.
Catholic teaching has taught abusive men how to manipulate and deceive in order to save face and remain in control.
This is how abusers are able to gain custody of the children they have abused, even when documented evidence is provided to the Judges and the various agencies involved.
2,000 years of suppression, subjugation, and maltreatment of females is enough. The Roman Catholic Church must be brought to account for all of its evil deeds which it must confess and seek forgiveness and make redemption. Until it does, it will remain a Church, which promotes and assists evil doings to women and children.
Now is the time for the Divine Feminine to take her place in society and bring love and harmony to all who desire it.
Portia.
—
“Courage In Women is often Mistaken For Insanity”
Catholic Church Guilty of Ordering Women and Children Back To Male Abusers.
Now that the light of truth has been shed on the Vatican and its role in keeping abuse of children hidden, it is time to expose the suffering endured by thousands of mothers and children who were ordered back home to their violent husbands by Catholic priests after they had escaped such abuse.
It was standard practice to make mothers return with their children – No support given! No help given!, no advice given!
Just “Get back to your husband woman, that’s your place!”
“The only way you can leave your husband is in a coffin, you know the rules of the Church”
Obey, Obey, Obey.
If these women defied the Priest and did not return then they were castigated, labelled as `Harlots’. and declared outcasts. Most went into exile and were never heard of again.
Family and friends sided with the Catholic priest, so the victims were further abused and isolated.
Catholic Priests who ordered children and mothers back to the violence and abuse did not do so alone but were operating according to higher orders.
So, where exactly did these orders come from?
The teachings on this go back to St Augustine who lived in a dysfunctional family where his mother was beaten and forced to obey the violent father.
This “saint” then set about writing on how it is good for women to suffer at the hands of their husbands, because all women are evil and need to repent for the sin of being born female.
He also followed the teachings of Aristotle who also saw the subjugation of women as being necessary for society.
The patriarchal church also taught that women who think they are being abused are simply deceiving themselves and should not be believed. Keeping the women in the institution of marriage was all that mattered.
Children of the marriage were not believed either regarding abuse by the father, as that made would make him look bad in the eyes of the community and men’s reputations and good standing had to be protected.
By saying and doing nothing about the abuse, the Roman Catholic Church was thereby encouraging the denial of the realities of domestic violence and intra-familial terrorism and the extreme sufferings of abused mothers and their children. Many mothers returned to the violence as a consequence of the Priests directives and suffered broken health and premature deaths. Children often suffered serious mental disorders or lapsed into crime and prostitution and drug addiction.
Priests would commonly say to abused mothers, “His (the abusive violent father) soul must be saved!. You must return to him and stay with him to save his soul or he will not be admitted to heaven when he dies!.”
The same patriarchal thinking has continued today into the legal system, whereby abused mothers and children are made to suffer for daring to come forward and try to escape.
This abuse has been allowed to continue into the next generation, thus perpetuating the cycle.
Solicitors and Barristers warn protective mothers not to dare mention to Family Court Judges the abuse of their children by fathers, citing “ judges are sick of hearing about child abuse” and so abuse goes on and on, like it did in the Catholic church.
Some judges in Ireland still order women and children home to “be good little girls and obey.”
These are women of 40 years, so hardly girls, but this is how patriarchal judges see them.
All part of the brainwashing and social conditioning of females by the Roman Catholic Church. The holy sanctity of marriage and `Till death do us part…” mattered above all else and certainly the sufferings of mothers and children were of no account against the Catholic Church teachings.
Society still ostracises victims of domestic violence, citing “she made her bed, now, let her lie in it”.
She has dishonoured the family name and must leave the community.
But the husband is free to use and abuse his wife and children.
The same patriarchal system, which labelled all women as evil, still uses the same excuses in law to allow the abuser to walk free.
Here are a few well-known and typical excuses used by the RC Church and the Judiciary.
“All women are evil” ´ “Women’s only role is to produce babies”
“All women are emotional, so therefore in need of locking up in the “Looney Bins” should they step out of line.
It is also very simple for a violent husband to have his wife committed to a mental institution so that his image is protected.
Remember how it was, one word from the priest or the brutal husband and the men in white coats arrived and the mother disappeared from society. Nobody was allowed to speak of her again.
“That will teach her to keep her mouth shut about male abusers”.
“That will teach the rest of the strong women to keep quiet about abuse too”
Of course the real reason for locking women away was to get possession of the land and property and children.
This is no different to the days of the witch-hunts, when the Vatican men of God would ordered that women be burned at the stake in order to get their property.
It is also worth nothing that the Catholic Church singles out strong independent female children from a young age for persecution, aided and abetted by the Government agencies, especially social services.
Young girls were subjected to services of Exorcism by Catholic priests in order to break their spirit and render them obedient.
This same stigma remaining attached to them in motherhood which meant their children were stolen by the State.
It sounds so crazy in this day and age, yet it has been happening for generations and is still happening in secret.
The HSE- Social Services use the same secrecy rules as the Vatican.
It uses the same tactics of threats and intimidation also.
So too, the Family Courts.
Hardly surprising when the Judiciary. The legal profession, and the government are also controlled by the Catholic Institution.
Most judges, social workers, Guardians, solicitors, barristers play by the Catholic rules for fear of rocking the boat and the truth be exposed for all to see.
Careers and incomes are dependent on these collusions and collaborations and none may break the silence and expose the injustices and atrocities in which they are all complicit.
Catholic teaching has taught abusive men how to manipulate and deceive in order to save face and remain in control.
This is how abusers are able to gain custody of the children they have abused, even when documented evidence is provided to the Judges and the l agencies involved.
2,000 years of suppression, subjugation, and maltreatment of females is enough. The Roman Catholic Church must be brought to account for all of its evil deeds which it must confess and seek forgiveness and make redemption. Until it does, it will remain a Church which promotes and assists evil doings to women and children.
Now is the time for the Divine Feminine to take her place in society and bring love and harmony to all who desire it.
Portia.
Pearse Megihan is Only working for Clerical abuse survivors TO cap Payouts. He lies about the settlement and court awards and claims far lower as being the top. He is involved and Supporting a cover up for the Priest that Abused me. He wrote an article 28 nov 2009 about Murphy Report regards how those Covering up should go to Prison. That is not the worst of it. He destroyed my Settlement and Life Recovery plans and Charity and chosen trade and livelihood and Mentally Cruelly abused me with my Family for nearly 8 months destroying every experience for me including my Wedding and the primary purpose of settlement which was to have an Income immediately to gain Income and Financial statements to Get access to my Son to stop the mother from blocking the Visits which she does viciously WITH NO CARE FOR THE DAMAGE ON MY SON OR i. He is a Liar and deceiver and a Coward. He never brought the Civil Actions and Stole my Negotiated Legal Costs. I had paid out 10’s of thousand over years to fund Long Haul Trips while going trough Economic Hardship caused by the Costs. Not only where they for me but also my Sons Support money was put into those trips as well as loans from other and Living Inheritance from my Parents. The Church agreed to Pay them. They included his Fess. I have since checked the High Court and they Told me the Case was never Registered and did not Bring any action against the Priest who has gone totally unpunished. He was aware from the start my concerns about that cover up and denied the Priest made a statement and came forward to the Police before they completed their investigation after I had reported it to the Church in Dublin. He is willing to Destroy his vulnerable Clients with out care for them their families or health. He clearly is a Church Lawyer pertaining to be a Clerical Abuse Survivor Supporter. Actions Speak Louder than Words. He is a dangerous man and has no mercy or conscience. The Clinical word is psychopath it does not matter the Damage he is doing to his Defenseless client. This cover up is still going on since 1999. The church where aware of his intense records of abuse. The Murphy Report could but fails to expose it. Leaves out evidence and fails to draw concludsions. Not fully investigated and I was not included in Tribunal thiough tried to gain Access in 2008/9 but refused. Yet they investigated that Priest.
Its only a matter of time before the whole Roman ‘House of Cards’ collapses in on itself. Its inevitable.
Just when Martin is silenced and the Irish bishops launch a counter attack and things seem like picking up the unthinkable happens. A new front opens in Germany , Austria and Holland. Holland is reeling at the numbers which in a few days runs in the hundreds. Staggering accounts of the abuse of boys are coming out of Eikenburg. Holland is angry as men come forward and break their silence. The Irish must know that thanks to them and their noble struggle they have inspired hundreds to speak. In the course of a few weeks an empire has become undone. The spell is broken and a stench lies over Europe.
Paddy
As a counter to a lot of what BRUCE ARNOLD is saying why don’t you put up BRIAN COWEN’S Statement to the Dail on the 11 June 2009 it can be found at the TAOISEACH office web site http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie
Look for Government Press Office Taoiseach Speeches 2009.
Christy
It is heartening to see the recognition given to the Irish survivors by many on the European mainland. “It was the Irish who started the ball rolling” can be read in German papers. The crimes of clergy would not have come to light if we had not heard and read of the long and hard struggle by the Irish. For more than a decade the Irish have stood alone in the fray of battle against the most powerful force on the planet. Germans are now studying how to set up their own “Ryan” whilst being aware of how the Catholic church played hard ball by using every legal creep hole possible to cripple Ryan and Murphy. Lessons have been learned from Ireland by Germans, and Austrians and Dutch and now Switzerland. Ireland’s survivors plays a central role as they was first to challenge an empire. This is the second time in a hundred years that the Irish have done that. So when you march in Dublin on the 24th we will be by your side. Maybe a day will come when the Irish march beside their German brothers and sisters on the mainland.
Well, as long as Ireland keeps propping up Rome – as the Irish per se do – then what else to expect from our so-called government?
The sexual abuse and psychological violation of children in Ireland is not only traditional with regard to our Roman Catholic history. It will remain that way for the vast majority of Irish children, as long as we are ruled by Rome, which we still are.
Bruce Arnold has done a lot of good work in spreading the news and opening the lid on clerical-state abuse at several levels.
In the past 20 years, the public has moved from a deep fear of the church state abuse industry to an officially confirmed knowledge of abuse through the enquiries.
Brain washing a whole nation is in progress now despite two very powerful vested interests continuing to attempt to thwart justice. The truth is out however.
Again and again across European countries and the USA, we see that the Irish enquiries carry great credibility and weight and personally I can attest that ordinary people in Germany, Poland, Denmark, Spain and the UK are deeply conscious and aware of the expose in Ireland and it is being taken very seriously. This morning we see that Holland and Germany are now moving on the familiar route to formal enquiries. Ratzinger himself is now implicated in specific cases.
The sleeping giant of Germany society has awoken. All the major US newspapers have carried front page articles on child abuse in Ireland. Victims in many countries are speaking out now where they dared not speak before.
Of course Bruce Arnold wanted more as I did to happen in Ireland as a direct result of the reports and public outrage, that may still happen.
In the meantime, we can see a chain reaction across the world ignited by atrocities in Ireland, a form of enlightenment against the Vatican opium dealers.
There is lots and lots to look forward to. However, we can be sure the Irish government will not behave responsibly.
It never has in most fields so why would it change now.
The real action may take place outside Ireland. We can be there too.
When the proclamation was read outside the GPO it included the promise to “cherish all the children of the Nation equally”. The Catholic Church and the Irish Catholic State have a very sick interpretation of the word “cherish”.
The ‘indemnity deal’ was brokered between two parties who consistently played down the scale of the abuses, they played down the endemic nature of the abuses and the systematic nature of the abuses – the religious orders and the State KNEW from their own records how endemic these abuses in the Institutions were. But the Ryan Report blew that criminal charade away. The State and the religious orders have (so far) got off lightly in making recompense for the abuses committed on us.
Obscenely though it appears that self-titled survivor ‘representative’ groups have been living high on the hog and basing their ‘representation’ of us on our blood, guts and tears – and with no checks or balances whatsoever.
Nothing changes, does it? I was born and brought up in England in the 1950s and the dear old Catholic Church with the help of the old British Welfare Services allowed me to be adopted by a bunch of perverts. One social worker back in the 1990s actually found my records and read them to me. It seems that the welfare worker concerned with my adoption was worried about my adoptive parent’s behaviour, particularly my mother’s behaviour. Still, nothing was done and I went on to be physically, emotionally and sexually abused for most of my childhood and some of my early adulthood too.
Recently I tried to get hold of those old records again, strange thing is, no one seems to be able to find them. Hmmm, I wonder why? It’s not much different over here in the UK, hush it all up and perhaps it’ll go away.
Thank you Bruce- as always, telling it as it is.
Yes, I have the proof myself on this.
Judges reward abusers and order the victims to suffer more.
It is not just church abuse either.
Makes me sick.!!!!!!!!!!
It is all about keeping abuse hidden and to encourage victims to keep their big traps shut.
How many cases would you like Paddy?
The HSE protects abusers daily and punishes the innocent- all in secret courts- just like the Catholic church has done for years.