Nuns describe Catholic orphanage abuse claims as ‘a mystery’

NUNS from a charity accused of abusing children at a Catholic orphanage throughout the 1980s have said the claims were a “mystery” as the institution was described as “a safe haven” for deprived children. One local councillor had described it as a “showpiece” for childcare, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was told.
However Smyllum Park, in Lanark, has been the focus of claims children were systematically physically abused, and routinely humiliated for offences such as bedwetting.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15345613.Nuns_describe_orphanage_abuse_claims_as____a_mystery___/

Nuns have 'no evidence' of abuse at Smyllum orphanage

The head of a religious order which ran a controversial children’s home has described allegations of abuse as a “mystery”.
Sister Ellen Flynn, leader of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Great Britain, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry her congregation could find “no evidence” of abuse taking place at Smyllum Park in Lanark, South Lanarkshire.

http://www.scotsman.com/glasgow/nuns-have-no-evidence-of-abuse-at-smyllum-orphanage-1-4474731 

Nun admits children were abused by stretched staff

NUNS who abused children at homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth were unsuited to work with young people, while staff took on too many children to care for them all properly, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard yesterday.
The inquiry was told 257 former residents of the Catholic order’s four Scottish homes have started civil actions over alleged abuse, while an additional 147 have complained they suffered while in the sisters’ care. Sister Anna Maria Doolan, the UK regional superior in charge of the Sisters of Nazareth, told the inquiry there had been complaints against all four Nazareth houses, in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15348141.Nun_admits_children_were_abused_by_stretched_staff/ 

It’s the first apology I’ve heard ... it means a lot, says campaigner

JIM BUCKLEY has been campaigning for 19 years for an inquiry into the abuse he suffered in care, he said.
But the 72-year-old has waited more than six decades for an apology from the Sisters of Nazareth, to whom he and his three younger brothers were entrusted when he was just seven, after leukaemia left them without a mother and with a father who couldn’t cope.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15348148.It___s_the_first_apology_I___ve_heard_____it_means_a_lot__says_campaigner/?ref=rss 

Nuns say 'sorry' amid hundreds of child abuse allegations

More than 400 allegations of child abuse have been made against an order of nuns which ran four orphanages in Scotland until the 1980s. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard details of 257 civil actions and a further 147 complaints made in connection with children’s homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth, the last of which closed in 1985.

The inquiry, before judge Lady Smith, also heard that 71 child residents of the homes were sent to Australia. Giving evidence on behalf of the congregation, Sister Anna Maria Doolan admitted children had been abused and said the order was “very sorry”.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nuns-say-sorry-amid-hundreds-of-child-abuse-allegations-1-4475991

Institutional abuse: NI report scathing at how Nazareth homes were run

The Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry (HIA) report last January was unequivocal in its findings about the Nazareth House (girls) and Nazareth Lodge (boys) homes in Belfast, both run by the Sisters of Nazareth. It investigated abuses in Northern Ireland residential institutions for children in the period between 1922 and 1995.

The HIA report concluded that at the homes in Belfast “the shortage of finance and its consequent impact on staffing levels and physical standards of care amounted to a form of neglect and constituted systemic abuse. Although both central government and the welfare authorities bore some responsibility, this was primarily the responsibility of the Sisters of Nazareth.” 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/institutional-abuse-ni-report-scathing-at-how-nazareth-homes-were-run-1.3118654 

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely in The Keepers

In this era of a White House that seems impervious to the concept of accountability, you might well think this column will be about President Donald Trump. That is a tempting topic to be sure given the constitutional Framers’ baseline belief in the fallibility of humans and the tendency to abuse power in light of Trump’s uncontrollable urge to turn every moment into a moment of self-adulation. But this column is about a more absolute power exercised in a corrupt way.

https://verdict.justia.com/2017/06/08/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely-keepers 

Is The Institute Of Living Still Open? 'The Keepers' Highlights Father Maskell's Time At The Hospital

Netflix's new docuseries The Keepers is arguably both the most important and the most painful TV show of 2017. It addresses myriad issues that haven't received nearly enough attention — and one of them is the Catholic Church's response when allegations of abuse arise. When Jean Wehner (then known as Jane Doe) came forward to accuse Father Maskell of abuse in 1992, he was working at Holy Cross parish in Baltimore. Immediately after the allegations came to light, the Archdiocese sent Maskell to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. (The Baltimore Sun reported that Maskell denied the accusations until his death in 2001.)

https://www.bustle.com/p/is-the-institute-of-living-still-open-the-keepers-highlights-father-maskells-time-at-the-hospital-59745 

Tuam babies buried at Mother and Baby Home could be identified

Irish Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone announced that experts have been employed to assess the possibility of exhuming bodies buried at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home to identify the remains of the hundreds of babies believed to be buried there.
In an op-ed with the Irish Examiner, Zappone wrote that she felt there is a “real possibility” that the identities of these children could be discovered but that the process is “very complicated.”As such, forensic archaeologist Niamh McCullough has been appointed to lead a team of international experts to investigate the best possible next step in dealing with the Tuam babies scandal.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/tuam-babies-buried-at-mother-and-baby-home-could-be-identified 

Depiction of Sisters of Charity like ‘elder abuse’, says Sr Stan

Nun was shocked by some of the ‘very distasteful’ media coverage of the order.  The depiction of the Sisters of Charity during the recent controversy over the transfer of the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent’s hospital was akin to elder abuse, according to one of the order’s best-known members.

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy said she was shocked and surprised by the scale of the controversy over St Vincent’s and the criticisms levelled at her order. “It shook me, it really did.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/depiction-of-sisters-of-charity-like-elder-abuse-says-sr-stan-1.3105759 

My father saved my life': Tributes flow for child sex abuse victims' advocate Anthony Foster

It was the formidable force of a father's love that spurred Anthony Foster to become a high-profile advocate for child sex abuse victims. Mr Foster and his wife Chrissie dedicated two decades to seeking justice for sexual abuse victims within the Catholic Church.
Hundreds of people packed into the Melbourne Recital Centre to farewell Mr Foster at a state funeral on Wednesday. The 64-year-old hit his head in a fall last month. His family switched off his life support on May 26.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/my-father-saved-my-life-tributes-flow-for-child-sex-abuse-victims-advocate-anthony-foster-20170606-gwm0dw.html

10 things about Fr Maskell, Irish-American priest at centre of Netflix murder documentary The Keepers

NETFLIX’S latest documentary series, The Keepers, examines the case of Sister Catherine ‘Cathy’ Cesnik, a nun who was murdered after disappearing in Baltimore on November 7, 1969.
Her body was found on January 3, 1970 having suffered a skull fracture from a blow to the head. The show examines whether there is a link between her murder and allegations of abuse at a school she taught, Archbishop Keough High School.

http://irishpost.co.uk/10-things-fr-maskell-irish-american-priest-centre-netflix-murder-documentary-keepers/