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Irish Catholic nuns offer compensation for Church child sex abuse

KENNETH HAYNES

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Thursday, December 3, 2009, 4:20 PM

Updated Thursday, December 3, 2009, 5:04 PM

The Sisters of Mercy Order in Dublin have offered $193 m in money and property in damages to those who were abused by nuns in the order.

Complete coverage / The Irish Catholic Church child abuse scandal / Click here

The Sisters of Mercy in Dublin have offered $193 million in money and property to those who were abused by nuns in their order.

The religious order made the announcement Thursday, saying the amount was “reparation for the suffering of children while in residential institutions within Mercy care."

The Sisters of Mercy ran five schools for girls in Dublin, and physical assaults and humiliation were a regular occurrence. One of the Order’s institutions at Goldenbridge was notorious for the level of abuse carried out under its roof.

The Order released a statement outlining the reason behind their giving the large amount of money.

"It is the sincere hope and desire of the congregation that this contribution will help toward the enhancement of the lives of former residents," the statement read.

The abuses carried out by the Sisters of Mercy were listed in the recent Ryan Report, which shed light on the systematic abuse that was carried out in Church-run institutions from the 1930s up to the early 1990s.

In the report, Justice Sean Ryan commented that the severity of abuse at Goldenbridge created a "pervasive climate of fear."

In late November, another religious order in Ireland, the Christian Brothers, announced they would pay $242 million in restitution for child sex abuse that happened in their schools and institutions.

The Ryan Report’s shocking findings not only revealed the abhorrent level of child abuse rampant in Church-run institutions, but also uncovered the lengths to which some members of the Catholic Church went to cover up the atrocities.

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Posted by Penso10 on Dec 07, 2009, 07:24 PM EST

addendum: Recently the parish priest here "Hit on Me" Thinking that I was "Gay" (which I am not) he has been moved form the parish here. Now I wonder if he is a pedophile?? Is that the reason they moved him. The church has been known to do this in the past trying to protect their mentally sick ones. Fred Greene-USA

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Posted by Penso10 on Dec 07, 2009, 07:19 PM EST

It's kind of late for this isn't it? When St. Augustus changed the laws(rules) for the Catholic religion he did a disastrous job,ie:Restricting the priests and nuns from any sexual endevours whatsoever. This led to pedophilia and sadism. My best friend(who attended a Catholic school) received "Yard stick" beatings also. He left the school. My aunt also had her tongue stuck to a (hot) radiator while in a girls school(reformatory). I totally agree with Irishathens=They should be publicy named,shamed and jailed. Fred Greene-USA

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Posted by Celtica43 on Dec 07, 2009, 10:49 AM EST

Does it apply to Mercy institutions in the US? Weren't very nice over here either!

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Posted by kickstar on Dec 06, 2009, 12:05 AM EST

The sad thing is... People will return to this Godless Sinful and totally discredited church of evil, Do you really think the God of the Ages The God of Moses and the Disciples really Would live in such an organization.?

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Posted by borefield on Dec 05, 2009, 06:45 PM EST

I guess there is some redemption in trying to make amends for wrongs committed. I guess the people bringing the lawsuites want restitution for the acts committed by the sisters. Perhaps in some way it may ease some of their nightmares and pain. I still feel bad that the entire order is painted with the same brush. I was educated by the Irish Sisters of Mercy. They were wonderful compassionate women. I feel equally for any child wronged by the wayward sisters.

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Posted by irishathens on Dec 05, 2009, 05:19 AM EST

Offering money...thats degrading their victims further..We used you, abused you BUT we will offer money...These victims are not prostitutes that sold a service..they don't want your 'dirty' money...They want you publically named, shamed and jailed

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