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The Church of Ireland has apologized for the role it played in \u201cshaping a society\u201d in which unmarried women and their children were stigmatized.<\/p>\nThe Church of Ireland has apologized for the role it played in \u201cshaping a society\u201d in which unmarried women and their children were stigmatized.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop John McDowell and Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson said they acknowledged \u201cwith shame\u201d that members of the Church of Ireland were \u201ccomplicit as with the rest of society at that time, in a culture of hypocrisy and judgement which stigmatized women and children and endangered their health and well-being\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sorry and apologize for the role that our Church played in shaping a society in which unmarried women and their children were treated in this way. They deserved much better,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
The archbishops were responding to the publication on Tuesday of the Commission of Investigation\u2019s report into mother and baby homes.<\/p>\n
The institutions for women who became pregnant outside of wedlock produced high levels of infant mortality, misogyny and stigmatization of some of society\u2019s most vulnerable, the independent report found.<\/p>\n
The archbishops said the report \u201csheds light\u201d on the \u201cshocking and disturbing\u201d suffering of women and children who found themselves with nowhere else to go to but these homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain and hurt experienced by the women and children in these homes has been shocking and disturbing, and their response has been courageous and inspiring,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
They paid tribute to the former residents of the homes and others who had focused society\u2019s attention on mother and baby homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most prominent groups was associated with the Bethany Home, which operated under a general Protestant ethos while being independently managed,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
They also said: \u201cWe must all feel ashamed when we consider the social pressures and judgements that drove so many women and their children into these deserts within our community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report seeks to understand the injustices endured, and also recognizes the difficulties faced by those who ran the homes in a society that often did not want to know or to help, and in a State that did not help enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The church said the commission\u2019s recommendation that residents of the homes should be able to access personal information deserved \u201curgent consideration\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone who has read this report and related coverage can only be moved on behalf of the women and children whose stories are told within it. This is a somber time for us all,\u201d they concluded.<\/p>\n