"With a calm but relentless accumulation of facts, the report blows away
all the denials and obfuscations, all the moral equivocations and
evasions that we have heard from some of the religious orders and their
apologists. The sheer scale and longevity of the torment inflicted on
defenceless children – over 800 known abusers in over 200 institutions
during a period of 35 years – should alone make it clear that it was
not accidental or opportunistic but systematic."

"There is a nightmarish quality to this systemic malice, reminiscent of
authoritarian regimes. We read of children “flogged, kicked . . .
scalded, burned and held under water”. We read of deliberate...

read more»

"With a calm but relentless accumulation of facts, the report blows away
all the denials and obfuscations, all the moral equivocations and
evasions that we have heard from some of the religious orders and their
apologists. The sheer scale and longevity of the torment inflicted on
defenceless children – over 800 known abusers in over 200 institutions
during a period of 35 years – should alone make it clear that it was
not accidental or opportunistic but systematic."

"There is a nightmarish quality to this systemic malice, reminiscent of
authoritarian regimes. We read of children “flogged, kicked . . .
scalded, burned and held under water”. We read of deliberate
psychological torment inflicted through humiliation, expressions of
contempt and the practice of incorrectly telling children that their
parents were dead. We read of returned absconders having their heads
shaved and of “ritualised” floggings in one institution."