The Pope

Why did the British government send those children to a RC Children’s home?

I've just been listening to Sunday on Radio 4 - seems many victims think it's not enough for the Pope to sympathise and say sorry, they expect some sort of action. Well I don't envy him that world-wide task.

However the government of Ireland could directly address the situation whereby women are denied sterilisation in some publicly-funded hospitals as they are 'Catholic' hospitals. Governments needs to take action and not wait for the Vatican.

I came across Lesley Pearse's book by accident. The cover look like chick lit but 'Trust me' is a fascinating book about British children taken from home and sent to Australia where they had a dreadful time in a Catholic home. It is many years since I read this but it has stayed with me. I hope I remember correctly but I think it was based on a true happening. 'Remember Me' was also good.

I am wondering whether to delete this rather than post as I have entered the competition for Lesley Peare's new book!

Bluebelle, good post.

And for those who think it’s all historical from the same source..

“The scandal has grown from being, as the church once claimed, about a few bad apples, to a global disaster, revealing not only cover-ups by bishops of priests’ behaviour but accusations against archbishops and cardinals, the princes of the church. So bad is the situation that it has edged ever closer to the pope himself, with two of the members of his C9 group of cardinal advisers now tainted by abuse scandals. (It should be noted that the C9 members involved dispute the claims.)

In recent days the Catholic church has also been rocked by accusations against one of the most respected cardinals of recent times, the retired archbishop of Washington DC, Theodore McCarrick. The Vatican has ordered him to cease public ministry. McCarrick, 88, was a confidant of presidents and popes, including Francis.”

These claims need to be investigated or these words of apology and ‘disappointment’ mean absolutely nothing.

From the Guardian

“The scandals now lead to routine expressions of sorrow from the Vatican and other Catholic outposts. But this is not enough. Victims, Catholic laity, and indeed innocent clerics viewed as possible miscreants by a cynical public need action to be taken to at last root out the abusers, work out the causes and enact reforms.

This is not, of course, a contemporary problem of Francis’s own making. The vast majority of the cases coming to the fore are historical. The pope has inherited not only a backlog but a church which for decades was reluctant to act – and all too often run by a hierarchy keen to hide scandals, as the movie Spotlight, about the Boston paedophile priest scandal, so vividly portrayed.”

Good post BlueBelle. IMO the world would be a better place if we all treated others the way we would wish to be treated. I think that formal religion does more harm than good although the Ten Commandments make sense.

The Pope needs to hand over all the information he has in his possession

The pope can’t right the wrongs that have been committed over the decades he cannot say anything that can take away the ruined lives, all he can do is to try to make it harder for it to happen in the future and any LIVING priest or nun known to have sexually abused a child should be charged immediately and any proven dead abusers have their titles taken from them
You cannot apologise for someone else’s crimes they belong only to the person
Churches hold too much power, the priests hold too much power... all religions (not just Catholic) con people into believing if they are ‘good’ and look after the priests nuns vicars rabbis and buildings etc and give money and lives they will be rewarded in heaven Muslims are just the same that’s why they kill the enemy of Allah to gain a Reward in the afterlife
Formal religion always becomes tainted by money and power surely each person should live their life treating others as they want to be treated themselves, isn’t it that simple

I don’t know if the problem is being ‘faced’ giulia. Lots of words but no action.

In the real world historic child abusers are being named and charged. Even some who has died are being shamed when the evidence is overwhelming. The clergy, especially the Catholic clergy, lived in an insular world protected by their community (and this included some nuns) because, in their ignorance, they couldn’t or wouldn’t believe what some were capable of. Children knew they wouldn’t be believed so were easy prey.

The rotten underbelly of this brand of Catholicism has been exposed at last.

Rosieroe: the problem/crime of hidden child abuse IS being faced by Pope Francis constantly. If you follow the news about him - or if you listened to his first speech in Ireland, you would realise this.

Anniebach I'm not disagreeing with your posts. I'm quite sure they are true. As are mine.

No "Chinese whispers" here; I personally witnessed it every week for years: my best friend was from a devoutly Catholic family. Every Friday teatime, Father called to collect his money, which was put into an envelope for him). Whilst he was there he was given a glass of sherry, that was bought and kept, for him alone (the bottle was actually kept "in Father O'Brien's cupboard). My friend was one of 7 children and they were so poor that she had her school uniform out of the "lost property box" in the classroom. Even as a child of, I was at this. The Catholic church isn't the wealthiest in the world by accident.

I thought the Prime Ministers Speech was so wrong, reminded me of the three times married Charles Spencer’s speech st his sisters funeral , taking a pot shot at people who couldn’t reply and were too dignified to walk out. Humiliating people is never right

Can I just say that the fact that there are good or bad priests and nuns is not the big issue here. The fact that when the abusers were reported the Catholic Church did it’s utmost to hush it up and conceal what was going on - many, many times simply moving the perpetrators to another parish so that many more children suffered. THAT is what the Pope needs to address!

Jane, my experience includes a dear friend who was a priest in my church, ran the church group both my daughters went to, he was charged with child abuse

I got hauled out of class aged 7 or 8 and wacked on the hand with the wooden side of the blackboard rubber. The reason, "I was looking at my assailant insolently" I was completely unaware of that I thought I had my normal face on Now I realise I must have had what is known these days as a "resting bitch face"

Jane, I assure you I am not tit for tatting, I disagreed with you post as you hsve with mine

Anniebach I meant the girls from Catholic families. I remember being appalled at the grave of 700+ children under the age of 2 being discovered in Ireland.
While I'm sure there are and were decent people among the clergy there were some unforgivably bad ones.
You can talk from your experience and others from their own. Both are valid. No point in tit for tatting.

Paddyann, I had a really hard canning for sliding on the school roof in the holidays, a double dose, one for sliding on the roof and the second lot for not owning up when asked. Whrn I see photographs of that school in ruins in Aberfan and part of the roof still up, I still remember the pain and remember how swollen my hand was ?

i have known some wonderful jesuits and nuns as well.my first job was working for a woman who did amazong things for the poor in our city.
on the other hand i was beaten at age ten(1967)by a nun for not answering to the name she called me.it wasn't my name!my sojourn into catholic school lasted 2 days..my mom listened thankfully.
but this murder/abise and hidden bullshit has gone on for centuries.
and not just in ireland,uk and europe.
www.sinhalanet.net/canada-where-are-the-50000-missing-children-from-80-indian-residential-schools

if you search canadian holocoust you can learn more

this is from a clergyman
wariscrime.com/new/the-canadian-holocaust-hidden-no-longer/

Gemmag, i donkt understand, an enlosed order do not teach , there are orders which do such as The Ursulines. I corresponded with sisters in an enclosed order for years, I never knew which sister would reply because if the same one did it would mean a friendship.

I thought the Prime Minister’s, Leo someone, speech excellent well written (maybe by a speech writer). He did not hide from any of the topics I hoped would be addressed. He is a gay man and represented his country very well.

Terri, please don’t be concerned about offending me x

Yes my faith is at the centre of my life but I don’t have a blind faith, I was encouraged from a young age to question, to understand there has only been one perfect human being. I follow the teachings of Christ,well I try to, but this does not mean all the teachings of the church . I accept those of faith and those of no faith do wrong, I also believe no one is all evil. This has often got me into disagreements and even being mocked, so be it. I have my own opinions on these we are discussing now, I also know my opinions would cause anger in many.

Jane, I do not agree parents put their daughters into homes because the church told them too. What of the parents who didn’t have a faith? They did the same, the daughter went against her parents rule that sex before marriage was wrong and brought shame on them. Easier to blame the church and not our own ancestors.

Terri children were sent to Australia to work on farms, to be unpaid servants.

We had the tawse,a leather belt in ALL schools in Scotland right up ntil the 70's and I know one of my English aunts says she was caned in an ordinary school in Yorkshire.thats how it was then.We cant judge yesterdays standards of discipline by todays standards.It was never right but it was accepted the same as children being hit by parents was.Yet most of us would be outraged to hear of it happening now