Irish Catholic Church, Abuse and Neglect of Children Born to Unwed Mothers... "9,000 Infant Deaths"

77 Years of Systematic Abuse... 15% of Admitted Infants Died
Hidden Within Catholic Fundamentalist Society... Stigmatized as "Corrupt Women"

It has been revealed that 9,000 children of unmarried mothers in Ireland died due to abuse between 1922 and 1998.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The Irish government announced that a fact-finding investigation into Catholic Church-run unmarried mother facilities in the country revealed that organized abuse of unmarried mothers and their children occurred for over 70 years since the 1920s, resulting in the deaths of more than 9,000 infants. The Irish government issued an official apology to the victims and is reportedly planning compensation measures for the survivors.

According to the British Guardian on the 12th (local time), the Irish Commission of Investigation announced that over 9,000 infants died due to neglect and abuse in Catholic Church unmarried mother facilities over 77 years from 1922 to 1998. During this period, about 15% of the approximately 57,000 infants housed in 18 unmarried mother facilities died from abuse. The fact-finding report, released after a five-year investigation, spans 2,865 pages and includes details of organized abuse such as violence against unmarried mothers and infants and concealment of deaths.

At a press conference that day, Irish Prime Minister Michol Martin stated, "Society placed women and children in harmful environments," adding, "It is as if society forced them to pay a tremendous price." Prime Minister Martin also said, "We will prepare plans to officially apologize to the victims and compensate the survivors." The Irish government plans to promote related legislation to help unmarried mothers and their children find each other.

This fact-finding report was triggered in 2014 when Catherine Collis, a historian from Galway, Ireland, investigated the history of an unmarried mother facility operated by the Bon Secours convent in the village of Tuam, Galway. She discovered that 796 infants had been buried without records. At the time, the convent recorded that the infants mainly died from malnutrition, measles, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases, but it was revealed that they actually died from organized abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

In a media interview that day, Collis explained, "The Catholic Church created a culture that condemned women who gave birth to children out of wedlock as sinners," adding, "Everyone was forced to think this way at the time, but people were afraid to speak out against the church or local priests." She continued, "Many children lost their lives due to society's attitude toward unmarried mothers and illegitimate children," and said, "If there had been even minimal hygiene measures and care, many children could have survived."

According to the report, emotional abuse of unmarried mothers also occurred in these facilities. Unmarried mothers were forced to be separated from their children. Among the infants housed, 1,638 were adopted abroad, including to the United States, without the consent of the unmarried mothers and without any legal restrictions. The report pointed out that some survivors still suffer from emotional trauma caused by this abuse. However, no evidence of sexual or physical abuse was found.

The commission pointed to Ireland’s deeply rooted Catholic fundamentalism as responsible for this situation. Ireland, classified as a very devout Catholic country among European nations, stigmatized unmarried mothers as "fallen women." Even children born to unmarried mothers were treated as inferior and were denied baptism and burial in church cemeteries. The commission noted that in this social atmosphere, the parents of unmarried mothers were desperate to hide the birth of their children, and the realities of unmarried mother facilities were inevitably concealed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.