“Ireland is unique in the 20th century in having such institutions.”
Chairperson of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors Paul Redmond has clarified why he had to give Pope Francis a “crash course” on the history of the Magdalene Laundries and industrial schools during their meeting on Saturday.
Redmond was one of eight clerical abuse survivors that met with Pope Francis during what he described as a “very intense” weekend.
In conversation with Caitriona Perry on RTÉ News: Six One on Sunday evening, Redmond noted that the Pope didn’t have adequate knowledge of institutional abuse in Ireland.
“Just to clarify that, because people seem quite puzzled by that, that the Pope was unfamiliar with with a Magdalene Laundry was or an industrial school; Ireland is unique in the 20th century in having such institutions,” Redmond began.
“They really started in Victorian Britain. We obviously inherited them, but by 1900 the British had realised that large scale institutional care simply doesn’t work, and they started closing down their institutions.
“The Catholic Church had taken them over in Ireland and we kept them right into the 1980s and into the 1990s, so they’re quite unique to Ireland. The Pope had no – there’s no parallel in Argentina or South America with these sort of institutions.
“One of the survivors was explaining what happened to her in an industrial school and I actually had to jump in and spend three or four minutes giving the Pope a crash course in what Irish institutions were and what happened.
Redmond noted that he gave the Pope “a number of facts and figures” and upon detailing specific incidences, Pope Francis “put his hands up to his head a couple of times” and was “clearly shocked and taken aback” at what he was hearing.
Asked how he felt when Pope Francis asked for forgiveness of abuse carried out by the church in Ireland, Redmond said that he felt some sense of relief.
“We went in asking for what we’ve been asking for from church and state for years, which is a full acknowledgement, apology and a redress package for survivors particularly because our community is generally elderly and dying.
“We didn’t expect to get that,” Redmond continued. “The fact that he asked for forgiveness was a step in the right direction.
“What we were hoping for was that he would address the issue of the fact that natural mothers – and to some extent, adoptees – were told back in the day that the search and look for reunion was immortal sin and they would burn in hell for it, and that it was a criminal offence and illegal.”
Survivors of mother and baby homes have welcomed the statement from the Pope that seeking to be reunited with their children was not a mortal sin. #popeinireland pic.twitter.com/aZMNDZimnm
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 26, 2018
Redmond acknowledged that the Pope took the requests and sentiment of the survivors on board and addressed it fully during his mass at the Phoenix Park.
“I am delighted about that,” said Paul. “That is definitely a huge step forward for our community. A lot of us suffer in silence.”
It was underlined that despite this progress, Pope Francis didn’t offer a definitive apology.
“No, and we knew he never would any more than the government will, or any of the individual orders or nuns,” said Redmond.
“An apology is a legal admission of liability and they simply will not do that. The church and state are going to have to be dragged to that kicking and screaming.”
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