ROME – The Irish government published a controversial report trying to explain why it was okay for tens of thousands of single mothers to be forced into state-funded Catholic homes to give their babies up for adoption between the 1920s and 1990s. The report says that about of 9,000 children died in 14 homes run by Catholic nuns, but gives little reason for that. In the length of almost 3,000 pages, the government blames single mothers, their families and society in general, angering several victims who called him “lime”.
Some reports suggested that the original report was 4,000 pages long and that 1,000 pages were cut before it was released to the public.
“Women in the homes of mothers and babies shouldn’t be there. They should be at home with their families, ”says the report from the Irish Mother and Baby Homes Commission. “However, the reality is that most had no choice – they were, or expected to be, rejected by their families and needed a place to stay. Most were unable to support the baby. They were not “imprisoned” in the strict sense of the word, but, at least in the early years, with some justification, they thought so. They were always free to leave if they took their children. “
The extensive report is full of dark details about the residents of the houses. One of them, known as “Resident (A)”, was raped by her boyfriend and became pregnant at 18. “She told the commission that she saw ‘about 10’ dead babies being sent to burial in what looked like shoe boxes.”
Another person called “Resident (H)” says he became pregnant at age 20 as a result of rape. “When she visited the parish priest to tell her story, she said that the priest sexually assaulted her in his car,” says the report. “Castlepollard’s medical officer examined her once a week: ‘I hated him; he was so harsh that he used to examine me internally through the back passage and I was sore long after. ‘”
Throughout the report, the authors refer to practices “of the time” and the stigma of single mothers, with little mention of fathers or the fact that the last home of mothers only closed in the late 1990s. The report focused on in 56,000 single mothers, some as young as 12, and 57,000 children who were born in the homes of mothers and babies, but admits that there were probably an additional 25,000 single mothers and more children in homes that were not investigated by the commission.
The report does not fully explain why the remains of 767 fetuses and babies were found in a septic system in the home for mothers and babies in Tuam, County Galway, rather than blaming infant mortality and a lack of burial records.
“Many failed to keep any records of the burials of children who died,” says the report. “The commission finds it very difficult to believe that there is no one in that congregation who does not have any knowledge about the burial of children. Likewise, the commission considers that there must be people in Tuam who know more about burials there. “
The report also arrives at a home in Bessborough, where many other remains have been found. “The commission finds it very difficult to understand the apparent inability of any member of the Congregation for the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to help locate the cemeteries of children who died in Bessborough,” the authors found.
An interim report published in April 2019 provided grim details that led to the final report. “The site of the memorial garden contains human remains that date back to the time when the Tuam children’s home was in operation, so it is likely that a large number of the children who died at Tuam’s house are buried there,” says the April report and later refers to other remains found in a waste treatment area in the home. “The remains found by the commission are not in a sewage tank, but in a second 20-chamber structure that was built inside the large deactivated sewage tank.”
These remnants “involved a number of individuals with ages of death ranging from approximately 35 fetal weeks to 2-3 years,” says the report. The interim report also states that its authors were “surprised by the lack of knowledge about the burials by the Galway County Council and the Sisters of Bon Secours who ran the house.”
The controversial home of mother and baby is featured in the film Philomena, which tells the story of a woman looking for her son who was adopted by an American couple.
Terri Harrison, a native of Dublin, found herself in a home after becoming pregnant and moving to London, only to be “kidnapped” by nuns who returned her to Ireland. She described to the commission the horrible details of her time there. “Her son was put in the locked nursery, they only opened the doors at feeding time,” she said, according to Dublin Live. “And then you weren’t allowed to hold your baby or pet it because the nun keeps reminding you that it would upset your child’s mommy and daddy if the baby got used to you.”
She says she can never forget the children’s horrible screams and when one of them suddenly disappeared. “I remember the screams and I’m going to take them to the grave. You always knew when there was a baby missing from the nursery, ”she said. “It’s the strangest sound you’ve ever heard, like animals in the jungle. I remember when I found your cradle empty, the same sound came out of me, but it didn’t sound like me. “
Mari Steed, now 60, was one of the children born in a home in Cork. She told NBC News that as an adult she discovered that she and other babies born at home were part of what she called a “highly unethical” vaccine trial, in which she was injected with experimental vaccines against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio. – everything that should be described in the final report released on Tuesday. “Scientifically, I understand that there is no research group more perfect than a group of captive children. But it requires huge ethical protocols, and it just wasn’t followed, ”said Steed, who was adopted by an American family, to NBC. “Whether out of sheer ignorance or ‘We don’t care what happens to these kids’ – that part still makes me angry.”
The report recognizes the judgments. “It is clear that there was no compliance with the relevant ethical and regulatory standards of the time, since consent was not obtained from the mothers of the children or their guardians and the necessary licenses were not in effect,” says the report. “Who the guardian is, however, is largely irrelevant, as no attempt appears to have been made to obtain the consent of parents or guardians. There is no evidence of injury to the children involved as a result of the vaccines. “
The Vatican said it would not comment on the report before reading it.
The report is the result of six years of work by Judge Yvonne Murphy, who compiled the shared experiences of thousands of women with the aim of obtaining government compensation for them.
The final report should pave the way for legislation introduced by Irish Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, who wants to ensure the exhumation, identification and burial of all the bodies found in the 18 houses. This legislation can also lead to compensation for victims, many of whom searched their entire lives to see if their newborns were adopted or mysteriously died and buried in nameless graves.
Ireland’s Taoiseach, or Prime Minister Micheal Martin, addressed the victims in a video conference before releasing the report to the public. He is expected to make a public apology to the victims during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.