The Brothers grim
It is not the memories of the kickings and lashings with a leather strap that make Tom Hayes pause and choke and break down. Nor is it the incessant bullying, the slave labour or the sexual abuse he suffered after dark in the dormitory. The memory that turns the 63-year-old former soldier's voice small with terror is one vivid image from his eight years in Glin industrial school, Limerick. "The first time I saw someone brought back to the school having absconded was one of the most frightening things I've ever witnessed," he says. "His head was shaved as punishment and then he took a really serious beating by two Christian Brothers. I've never forgotten it."
2. Comment #436252 by Mitch Kahle on November 29, 2009 at 2:30 am
3. Comment #436269 by Crazycharlie on November 29, 2009 at 3:24 am
4. Comment #436284 by A on November 29, 2009 at 4:26 am
Fuck these fucking fascists and their poisonous superstition.5. Comment #436288 by hoops mccann on November 29, 2009 at 4:44 am
6. Comment #436293 by Rodger T on November 29, 2009 at 5:11 am
7. Comment #436323 by BlueCollar8theist on November 29, 2009 at 7:47 am
8. Comment #436337 by AllanW on November 29, 2009 at 11:25 am
9. Comment #436343 by Animavore on November 29, 2009 at 11:59 am
10. Comment #436345 by rod-the-farmer on November 29, 2009 at 12:31 pm
11. Comment #436350 by Max of Earlobes on November 29, 2009 at 12:58 pm
12. Comment #436352 by rokeisland on November 29, 2009 at 1:48 pm
My upset with the Church isn't that they spread the belief in a sky fairy that holds my best interest at heart. My upset is that the Church itself doesn't hold that interest at heart. They are focused only on what THEY think is best, not in truly interpreting the scriptures. And inevitably, what they think is best is only best for themselves, not everyone else.13. Comment #436361 by FXR on November 29, 2009 at 3:27 pm
14. Comment #436363 by FXR on November 29, 2009 at 3:30 pm
15. Comment #436368 by anonbloger on November 29, 2009 at 3:51 pm
This is another case where the argument that most never abused children simply is a distraction.16. Comment #436372 by hungover on November 29, 2009 at 4:03 pm
ah but dougal if there are a million priests and lets say 1% of them abuse children thats only....eh..17. Comment #436374 by Drosera on November 29, 2009 at 4:11 pm
You can't maintain that the Catholic Church doesn't recognise how serious an offence child abuse is. They think it is almost as bad as desecrating a communion wafer.18. Comment #436398 by Stafford Gordon on November 29, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Celibacy is unnatural; nature cannot be fooled; it always prevails; ergo, children are raped.19. Comment #436407 by ChicagoMolly on November 29, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I went to Catholic elementary school here in Chicago. The Old Man decided that after all the money he'd spent on tuition and uniforms for the four of us kids we were Catholic enough and we could go to public high school like normal people (our tax dollars at work). Some of the boys from our parish went on to Brother Rice High, which was run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland. It wasn't a boarding school, but from what I understand the Brothers made as much use of their training in Ireland as they could get away with. [whispered aside: I was on the point of saying 'the Old Sod' instead of 'Ireland' but realized the phrase takes on rather a different spin in this context!] Anyway, there was a kind of Irish macho attitude among guys who had gone to Rice. They actually bragged about getting beaten by their teachers. 'The Brothers don't take shit from you. You don't do your work, they'll give you a good clout upside the head. And it did us all a lot of good!' I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by talk like that, knowing what we do now about both the Stockholm Syndrome and cumulative brain damage.20. Comment #436420 by blakjack on November 29, 2009 at 6:27 pm
21. Comment #436475 by Cernunnos on November 29, 2009 at 7:43 pm
22. Comment #436530 by donttellhimpike on November 29, 2009 at 9:14 pm
23. Comment #436552 by kev_s on November 29, 2009 at 9:50 pm
@ChicagoMolly Reminds me of a cartoon by Ronald Searle in 'Down With Skool' ... there is this ugly, bald bruiser of a teacher with a boxer's nose who says, "When I was boy, they gave us six of the best every day. Made me what I am".24. Comment #436555 by David Blackwell on November 29, 2009 at 9:56 pm
And indeed the pope should personally apologize, as the victims' supporters are demanding that he do. Joseph Ratzinger should have been on a plane before this, Vatican documents previously requested but denied the investigators in hand, and, upon arrival in Ireland, in sackcloth, with head shaved, prostrate himself on the ground before the surviving victims and their families, begging their forgiveness.25. Comment #436568 by Logicel on November 29, 2009 at 10:22 pm
26. Comment #436577 by Sigmund on November 29, 2009 at 10:48 pm
27. Comment #436811 by keddaw on November 30, 2009 at 10:57 am
28. Comment #436844 by Tyler Durden on November 30, 2009 at 11:51 am
This was always going to come out and hiding it was going to backfire big style, how did they not see that?Never underestimate the gullibility of the average theist.
29. Comment #436860 by Ignorant Amos on November 30, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Keogh disagrees. "I don't think there was anything in the theology which made abuse OK. The problems were in the structures," he says. Self-flagellation was a universal idea in the Catholic tradition until the early part of the last century. "To make the jump between that and abusing children is oversimplistic and a misunderstanding of the theology," he argues. "The whole Christian Brother phenomenon was of its time. They mirrored society rather than moulded it."
30. Comment #436874 by Ignorant Amos on November 30, 2009 at 12:45 pm
The Brothers rejected the non-denominational schools system established by the British in 1831 and ran their schools independently. This, Keogh says, was fundamental in forging their uncompromising curriculum, which included an explicitly Catholic and patriotic emphasis, which shaped Ireland's national identity
Keogh disagrees. "I don't think there was anything in the theology which made abuse OK. The problems were in the structures," he says. Self-flagellation was a universal idea in the Catholic tradition until the early part of the last century. "To make the jump between that and abusing children is oversimplistic and a misunderstanding of the theology," he argues. "The whole Christian Brother phenomenon was of its time. They mirrored society rather than moulded it."
31. Comment #436888 by hungarianelephant on November 30, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Never underestimate the gullibility of the average theist.
The evening news on RTE (Irish state broadcaster) yesterday had a vox pop of parishioners with regard to the Murphy Report on whether the Bishops mentioned within the report should resign - most of the parishioners said yes, but voiced this opinion on the way out of mass on a Sunday.
32. Comment #436972 by Tintern on November 30, 2009 at 4:49 pm
A good article and a million points to be made, and well made by other commentators here. However, one point to note is the notion that the order was generally unsupervised. It falls a bit short in description. The Irish State literally abdicated its responsibility for education and handed the task over, lock, stock and barrel to the religious orders.33. Comment #437015 by Old Coyote on November 30, 2009 at 7:19 pm
34. Comment #437031 by FXR on November 30, 2009 at 8:55 pm
35. Comment #437266 by brainsys on December 1, 2009 at 11:26 am
Of course the Christian Brothers abuse has now come to haunt the new Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols.36. Comment #437270 by lee1302 on December 1, 2009 at 11:39 am
1. Comment #436251 by j.mills on November 29, 2009 at 2:29 am
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