"An Uncomfortable History"
"The Report of the Commission to Inquire
Into Child Abuse reveals an uncomfortable
history of Ireland," says The Irish Times. According
to the newspaper, this report uncovers
a history stained by the systematic abuse
of children in Catholic religious institutions,
ranging from "beating children whose crime
it was that lice had infested their heads" to
sustained sexual abuse. The abuse was ignored
because of misguided loyalty to "the
absolute authority of the Catholic Church,"
says the paper. "Shame on You, Government
and Church," said a headline in the Times,
quoting the words of one who sympathized
with the victims