Tuam ‘is a chance to judge society’

By Justine Mccarthy
Sunday Times (UK)
March 12, 2017

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/tuam-is-a-chance-to-judge-society-r6rxzbl23

Remains were interred in a sewerage chamber in the grounds of the home run by the Bon Secours nuns

The Catholic archbishop of Tuam, Micheal Neary, has called for the inquiry into mother-and-baby homes to be widened beyond “one particular religious congregation” and to look at society’s stigmatisation of single mothers.

In a homily last night, Neary said confirmation by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission that “a significant number” of remains were interred in a sewerage chamber in the grounds of the Tuam home run by the Bon Secours nuns was “deeply distressing”.

Noting that compassion and mercy had been “sorely lacking” in Irish society at the time, Neary said: “It was an era when unmarried mothers — as our society at the time labelled women who were pregnant and not married — were often judged, stigmatised and ostracised by their own community and the church, and this all happened in a harsh and unforgiving climate.”

He said this dimension of social history needed to be examined to explain what happened. “Perhaps we could begin with this fundamental question: how could the culture of Irish society, which purported to be defined by Christian values, have allowed itself to behave in such a manner towards our most vulnerable?”

Neary said there was an “urgent need” for an inquiry to examine all aspects of life at the time, broadening the focus from one particular religious congregation, and addressing the inter-relationships between church, state, local authorities and society.