Now What?

Responding as individuals and churches to the Mother and Baby Homes reports

(From the April - June 2021 issue of VOX)

Kevin and Richard have already suggested key steps that can be taken for individual Christians and churches to respond to the Mother and Baby Home reports.

1. Facing the Facts

This is not a time to ignore, dismiss or avoid the ugly truth. You’ve made a start by reading this special report. You could go deeper still by downloading and reading the executive summary of the two official reports.

2. Lament

Throughout scripture we see examples of when the people of God recognised that they had done wrong and turned to the Lord in repentance. Even those who were not personally responsible (see Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9) were still willing to humble themselves and confess the sins of the past. Why not use the prayer resources available from 24/7 Prayer and Praxis (www.praxismovement.ie)?

3. Telling the Truth

Acknowledging (confessing) sin is a necessary step in spiritual restoration. The apostle John calls it “walking in the light” (1 John 1: 5 - 10). Cover up and denial are hallmarks of darkness. This is a time for courageous honesty.

4. Campaigning for Redress

Our prayers of lament and expressions of repentance should lead to action on behalf of the survivors. James Gallen is a researcher who has spent the last five years working on the legacy of Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland. He has drafted letters for Christian leaders and for TDs calling for a swift and comprehensive response. These examples are available to download and can be used as a template to help you to campaign for redress. Here, we have reproduced parts of his letter to Church Leaders.

Letter to Leaders of Religious Orders, Churches and Religious Bodies

Like many other people, I am appalled at the contents of the recently published Mother and Baby Homes Commission Report and at the treatment of survivors both historically and in the past few months. I write as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and urge you to reflect on the need for your organisation to contribute spiritually, financially and practically to addressing the abuses suffered by women and children in Mother and Baby Homes.

I was appalled to learn of the unusually high mortality rates that led to such a high number of deaths of infants in these institutions. I was ashamed to learn of how pregnant women and children were treated by our ancestors in Christ. No one is illegitimate in the eyes of God. Every human being is and always was beloved. It angers me to see the limited response historically to these deaths, discriminations and mistreatment within the institutions, our communities and society. I am also conscious that contrary to the report’s findings, survivors maintain that there was a widespread practice of coercive and forced adoptions. I have no reason not to believe those who have come forward, and urge you to do the same.

It is upsetting and frustrating to me that survivors that have been historically marginalised harmed and shamed are today experiencing difficulties in having their voices meaningfully heard and in playing a significant role in shaping the response of churches, religious orders and organisations to the abusive elements of our past.

The response of the churches and religious organisations to date has been decidedly worldly. They have engaged their lawyers, denied and minimised liability and sought to settle cases to avoid scandal. To date the Catholic church and associated religious orders have paid 13% of the Bill for industrial school victims, nothing to Magdalene laundry survivors, nor mother and baby home residents. It has fought and settled civil actions for sex abuse, and refused to give families access to their adoption records to learn the truth of their loved ones. Other Christian institutions have engaged in similar tactics, perhaps fearful above all of the financial implications of admitting wrongdoing.

“An apology without material consequences risks becoming mere empty rhetoric.”

As a person of faith, I have been lamenting what happened to vulnerable women and children. I have reflected on the inadequacy of Christian charity that caused so much suffering and death. I welcome the apologies given by some churches, religious orders and organisations. I appreciate the leadership shown in providing a response to the Commission’s report. I hope they are the start of attempts to address the past and not the end. An apology without material consequences risks becoming mere empty rhetoric.

I believe as Christian communities and churches we are not called to adopt a defensive and confrontational posture towards the abusive parts of our past. Instead, we are called to follow Christ and forego what power and privilege remain in our churches and organisations, and to situate ourselves where we would expect to find Jesus: with the least among us, those who have suffered loss, who were forgotten and neglected, those who are angry and hurt at what was done to them in the name of Christianity.

As a leader of a Christian organisation, I invite you to reflect on the need for Christians to repent of the abusive elements of our past. In Matthew’s Gospel, the root of the word repentance is the Greek word poina meaning “pain”. It relates to other words that should guide our responses as Christians to our past wrongdoing. Repentance relates to poine meaning legal compensation, expiation and punishment. I urge your Christian organisation to publicly and meaningfully make a financial contribution to the government’s intended scheme of redress and reparation to victim-survivors of Mother and Baby Homes.

Churches and religious organisations can adopt a posture towards survivors that does not deny their opportunity to access justice and in particular access to their own personal information in the cases of adoption and “boarding out.” Survivors are entitled to the truth and to pursue accountability where possible. Their access to records, some of which may be held privately by your organisation, is key. I urge you to cooperate with the State’s efforts to consolidate and centralise all records of institutional abuse and adoption and consider depositing a copy of your records in the State’s National Archives, which have ample procedures to ensure adequate protection of confidentiality and anonymity.

Christians have long called others to repent. Perhaps it is time for own institutions to reflect on our need for absolution. Mother and Baby homes reflect part of a broader system of social control that was pervasive in 20th century Ireland. This was informed by law, politics, social pressures – but also theology. Shame is a word that is ever present in survivors’ account of their experience of historical abuses and institutions. I urge your organisation to pray and reflect on the spiritual implications of the report – how did our theology inform these institutions and their practices? In what way do we continue to preach a gospel that creates feelings of shame in others, or seeks to control the salvation and moral and spiritual flourishing of those who seek a place at the table of communion.

I appreciate this letter may be a challenge for you to read. It is written in love and a deep hope in all the good that church and the Christian faith can be in the world. I believe that love and good requires justice be done.

Yours in Christ, 

James Gallen