His Holiness Pope Benedict, presiding over a Church still in turmoil over the clerical child abuse crisis
Following his promise to Irish Catholics in March 2010 that an investigation would address chronic clerical child abuse in Ireland it's been reported that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a panel of nine prelates to deal with the handling of abuse cases in Ireland. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/pope-irish-catholic-abuse-investigation_n_595541.html
The Pope invited "all the members of the Irish Catholic community to support this fraternal initiative." That's an appropriate way of describing it, since the Irish Christian Brothers were, more than any other Catholic organisation, responsible for the physical and sexual abuse of children.
Following his promise to Irish Catholics in March 2010 that an investigation would address chronic clerical child abuse in Ireland it's been reported that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a panel of nine prelates to deal with the handling of abuse cases in Ireland. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/pope-irish-catholic-abuse-investigation_n_595541.html
The Pope invited "all the members of the Irish Catholic community to support this fraternal initiative." That's an appropriate way of describing it, since the Irish Christian Brothers were, more than any other Catholic organisation, responsible for the physical and sexual abuse of children.
The statue of Blessed Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers, in Callan, Ireland
The Congregation of Christian Brothers, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice, opened its first school at Waterford, Ireland, in 1802. Only recently have its victims begun to speak out to reveal shocking facts indicating that sadistic and paedophile tendencies were endemic in many institutions run by the Brothers.
The strap, a traditional teaching aid for Christian Brothers and an emblem of their reputation as child abusers
The missionary zeal of the founder and his fellow-Brothers over the last two centuries may have established the Congregation's reputation for effective teaching in schools all over the world, but many of its pupils paid a high price. Beatings, humiliating punishments and sexual assaults should not play a part in any school curriculum. They were a common feature in Christian Brothers' schools not just in Ireland, but in every country where the Congregation had a presence, including Australia, Canada, the USA and the UK.
So while the Pope's panel of prelates and other good Catholics will focus on abuses in Ireland, many of the Christian Brothers' victims believe that it should investigate in depth the activities of this most Irish of religious orders. In how many cases, for example, were brotherly abusers who had been caught out at schools in the UK discreetly transferred to 'safe houses' back in Ireland, often with the connivance of bishops?
The missionary zeal of the founder and his fellow-Brothers over the last two centuries may have established the Congregation's reputation for effective teaching in schools all over the world, but many of its pupils paid a high price. Beatings, humiliating punishments and sexual assaults should not play a part in any school curriculum. They were a common feature in Christian Brothers' schools not just in Ireland, but in every country where the Congregation had a presence, including Australia, Canada, the USA and the UK.
So while the Pope's panel of prelates and other good Catholics will focus on abuses in Ireland, many of the Christian Brothers' victims believe that it should investigate in depth the activities of this most Irish of religious orders. In how many cases, for example, were brotherly abusers who had been caught out at schools in the UK discreetly transferred to 'safe houses' back in Ireland, often with the connivance of bishops?
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, is the most senior Catholic cleric in England and Wales. He has no complaints about his own education by the Christian Brothers
How rigorous will this aspect of the panel's investigation be when one of its senior members is the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols?
This is the prelate who was reported in October 2003, following a BBC programme about clerical child abuse, as saying that there is "no evidence" to support the view that the Catholic Church's files on child sexual abuse should be "opened to independent scrutiny." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3196222.stm
This former Christian Brothers' pupil at St Mary's College, Crosby, has stated publicly that he has "no complaints about the education we received."
Either the Archbishop's memory is at fault or he was one of the lucky ones. In another UK Christian Brothers' school, not too far away from Crosby, I was told by a former pupil that as many as 50% of the children who had been taught by the Brothers at that institution said that their education had been a traumatic and damaging experience which had marked them for life.
How rigorous will this aspect of the panel's investigation be when one of its senior members is the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols?
This is the prelate who was reported in October 2003, following a BBC programme about clerical child abuse, as saying that there is "no evidence" to support the view that the Catholic Church's files on child sexual abuse should be "opened to independent scrutiny." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3196222.stm
This former Christian Brothers' pupil at St Mary's College, Crosby, has stated publicly that he has "no complaints about the education we received."
Either the Archbishop's memory is at fault or he was one of the lucky ones. In another UK Christian Brothers' school, not too far away from Crosby, I was told by a former pupil that as many as 50% of the children who had been taught by the Brothers at that institution said that their education had been a traumatic and damaging experience which had marked them for life.
