Irish bishop says abuse victims ‘have the right to tell their story’ after latest report issued

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Bishop Kevin Doran of Ireland emphasized abuse victims “have the right to tell their story” after the publication of a report looking at sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders in the country.

The Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders was released earlier this week, and said there were 2,395 allegations of sexual abuse in respect of 308 schools recorded by the religious orders that ran those schools.

The allegations were made against 884 alleged abusers, around half of whom have died.

Most of the abuse cases occurred between the early 1960s and the early 1990s, with the highest number of reports happening in the early to mid-1970s.

“I am conscious that, behind every paragraph is the experience of real people who, as children, suffered abuse and violence in a place where they should have been safe,” Doran said in a statement.

He said the report was “not easy reading by any means.”

“The tragedy of the report is not simply that there are so many of them, but that so many of them had to carry their experience alone for so many years, before they felt sufficiently free to tell someone else,” the bishop said.

“While the report relates specifically to Religious-run schools, it would be naive in the extreme to suggest that child abuse was not also a reality in other schools, whether Catholic or of any other tradition,” he continued, adding, “Sadly, sexual abuse, has been endemic in our society.”

“Survivors of abuse in schools are living in all our parishes. They are our brothers and sisters. As a bishop, I want to offer my sincere apology to all those who have been affected by abuse in the context of Church,” Doran said.

“I know from past experience that these words, however well intended, may sound hollow to survivors and their families. I appreciate that actions speak louder than words. Together with the safeguarding teams in both dioceses, I am committed to ensuring that the policies and procedures which have been put in place for the safeguarding of children will continue to be fully implemented,” he continued.

The inquiry made several recommendations, including asking the Irish government consider a redress scheme for survivors of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools, and to approach relevant religious orders about contributing to redress.

In the Republic of Ireland, nearly 90 percent of primary schools are owned or managed by the Catholic Church, while the number is far less for secondary schools. Religious orders, however, control a large number of the country’s boarding schools.

The Catholic Education Partnership issued a statement saying the Inquiry Report “has again laid bare the criminal treatment of children and young people in what was a gravely dysfunctional and abusive education system with respect to child safeguarding.”

“The Catholic Education Partnership – on behalf of the entire Catholic education community across Ireland today – wishes to acknowledge the significance of this report, the grave harm caused to survivors and their families, and those who suffered but are no longer with us,” the statement says.

However, it said it is important to assure parents and students the Catholic schools today “have robust child safeguarding procedures, most recently reviewed in 2023.”

“The Catholic education sector is fully committed to maintaining effective child safeguarding and has always engaged positively with the Department of Education on the development, review and improvement of these standards and will continue to do so. All Department of Education school inspections include a child safeguarding review,” the statement says.

“It is painfully clear that children and the trust of their families were betrayed in the most devastating of ways. The Catholic Education Partnership commits to working with our stakeholders and the State to ensure that we uphold out moral, civic, and statutory responsibilities,” the statement says.

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