Finally exposing the truth about Ireland's Magdalene Laundries: The UK Telegraph's Brendan O'Neill

For the past several decades, the media has told a story of how the Catholic Church in Ireland operated homes for troubled youth – the Magdalene Laundries – that were rife with unspeakable barbarity and unrivaled cruelty from the nuns who operated them. However, a new report thoroughly examining the famed laundries now reveals that the media's characterization of the laundries has been complete fiction.

Just a couple weeks ago, the Irish government released the independent McAleese Report, which sought to examine the country's role in the laundries, which operated for over two centuries until 1996. The findings are indeed eye-opening, and one of the only journalists to candidly reveal the report's discoveries is the UK Telegraph's Brendan O'Neill. Kudos to Mr. O'Neill for his honesty and good journalism.

The simple facts

Of the many scores of women who were interviewed for the report, exactly zero reported being sexually abused by a nun. None. Nada. Zilch. In a recent must-read blog post at the Telegraph, writer O'Neill explains:

"In the Irish mind, and in the minds of everyone else who has seen or read one of the many films, plays and books about the Magdalene laundries, these were horrific institutions brimming with violence and overseen by sadistic, pervy nuns. Yet the McAleese Report found not a single incident of sexual abuse by a nun in a Magdalene laundry. Not one. Also, the vast majority of its interviewees said they were never physically punished in the laundries."

These facts, of course, are in stark contrast to what the media has endlessly peddled about the laundries for decades: that these were places of rank horror, sadistic abuse, and torture.

The women speak

What about those characterizations in movies, television shows, stage plays, and newspaper articles of sadistic nuns beating the living daylights out of anyone who made the slightest misstep? As O'Neill explains, even the authors of the report seemed flummoxed by their own findings that such portraits were in fact bogus:

PURE FICTION: A scene from
2002's 'The Magdalene Sisters'

"The small number of cases of corporal punishment reported to McAleese consisted of the kind of thing that happened in many normal schools in the 1960s, 70s and 80s: being caned on the legs or rapped on the knuckles. The authors of the McAleese Report, having like the rest of us imbibed the popular image of the Magdalene laundries as nun-run concentration camps, seem to have been taken aback by 'the number of women who spoke positively about the nuns'."

Then there are the words from the women themselves, those who actually lived in the laundries. Here is what one woman had to say about the media coverage over the past decades about the laundries:

"It has shocked me to read in papers that we were beat and our heads shaved and that we were badly treated by the nuns … I was not touched by any nun and I never saw anyone touched."

At this point, there is little doubt that the media has successfully portrayed the laundries in the most cruel and unflattering light to advance an anti-Catholic agenda. In fact, the truth reveals that Ireland's nuns operated these homes out of Christian charity as their vows called them to do.

Indeed, the media has some heavy explaining to do here. The media has recklessly and maliciously portrayed the Magdalene Laundries. O'Neill concludes:

"Catholic-bashers frequently accuse the Catholic religion of promoting a childish narrative of good and evil that is immune to factual evidence. Yet they do precisely the same, in the service of their fashionable and irrational new religion of anti-Catholicism."

Amen. And kudos again to O'Neill for finally getting the truth out.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God :: Alex Gibney's claim of a "smoking gun" isn't

[Click here for the complete index of our review of Mea Maxima Culpa.]

A letter that is not 'smoking'

In seeking to portray the Catholic Church as callous to the issue of clergy sex abuse, Alex Gibney's Mea Maxima Culpa airs a blatant falsehood about a 1997 letter written by a Vatican official to Irish bishops. Gibney suggests that the letter was an effort by the Vatican to block reporting abusive priests to police.

While claiming the letter is a "smoking gun," Gibney asserts that the 1997 missive "overruled attempts by archbishops to report sex abuse to the police."

One cannot help but wonder if Gibney even read the letter in question. In fact, neither the words "police" nor "law enforcement" ever appear anywhere in the letter. The missive was simply an important reminder to bishops that it is imperative that they closely follow the protocols of Canon Law when disciplining abusive priests. If they do not, the letter warns, they may undermine their own efforts to remove priests by giving accused priests recourse to appeal their cases to The Holy See.

Most importantly, there is nothing in the letter that comes even close to saying "Don't call the police." [Read the actual letter for yourself.]

In addition, the claim that the letter was a "smoking gun" has even been debunked by "liberal" Church critics.

This bogus "smoking gun" letter claim originally surfaced in January 2011, when the news of the letter first surfaced. See: "Hit-and-Run: Media Slams Vatican With Bogus 'Smoking Gun' Story" (Jan. 2011).

The bottom line: Gibney's claim of a "smoking gun" letter is silly.

A monstrous rape, and HBO blames the Vatican

Gibney's film also attempts to claim that the Vatican is "fundamentally responsible" for a 1994 rape committed in Ireland by the notorious serial former pedophile priest Tony Walsh.

Indeed, Walsh committed abominable crimes for well over a decade and may have had "more than 40 victims." Yet an interview subject in the film attempts to lay blame on the Vatican for the rape of a teenage boy which was committed while Walsh was appealing his dismissal from the priesthood for previous misconduct.

The film claims that Walsh committed the 1994 rape of a boy "at his grandfather's funeral." Yet here are two important facts that the film omits:

• Walsh did not preside at the said funeral.
• The rape occurred after the funeral in the restroom of a local pub.

The sad truth of the matter is this: Whether or not Walsh was still a priest would not have hindered his ability to enter an Irish pub and commit heinous acts.

While Church officials in Ireland admittedly did not handle the atrocious crimes by Walsh as best it should have, to pin Walsh's 1994 rape of a boy on the Vatican is a stretch, to say the least.

In fact, a lot of the blame can be placed squarely on the Irish police (or "garda," as it is called). It was twice aware of crimes committed by Walsh in 1991, but it did not arrest him. [See the chapter about Tony Walsh from Ireland's 2009 Murphy Report, in which Walsh is given the pseudonym "Fr. Jovito."] If the police had arrested him, the 1994 rape likely would have been prevented!

Again, Gibney's Mea Maxima Culpa falls short when standing up to the facts it presents.

[Click here for the complete index of our review of Mea Maxima Culpa.]

Happy to return to active ministry! Rev. Oliver Brennan

A number of Irish media outlets have previously relayed the ordeal of Rev. Oliver Brennan, a priest who was falsely accused of sex abuse dating back some thirty years earlier.

However, as the Irish Catholic newspaper now reports, while Brennan feels "a great sense of relief" for having been exonerated of an accusation he always vehemently denied, the priest believes that Church authorities did not fully support him during his difficult time.

When Brennan was first accused in August 2010, his case was referred to law enforcement, and the priest voluntarily removed himself from ministry while declaring that the allegations were completely "false and groundless."

Exonerated, but still a long wait to return to ministry

Law enforcement thoroughly investigated the claim, and in November 2011, fifteen months after the accusation, officials completely dismissed the charges against him. At the time, the Irish Times quoted Brennan:

"[I look forward] to return to ministry in the church at the earliest possible date so that I can continue to provide for many years to come a worthwhile service to the people I have been called to serve."

Unfortunately, that "earliest possible date" did not come until last week, nearly a year after he was exonerated by civil authorities.

What took so long? Well, Fr. Brennan still had to wait for the results of a slow-moving "Church inquiry." As the priest had served nearly four decades in ministry without blemish, he describes the two-and-a-half years away from his livelihood as particularly painful.

Said Brennan:

"It has been my worst nightmare … I felt very let down by the cardinal and diocesan authorities. When they make the announcement to parishioners, there is an insistence in the statement about the need for the presumption of innocence. But it doesn't feel like that, the treatment you receive is very different.

"I would have to say that I didn't feel compassionately supported by our diocesan authorities. The aim of our diocese is to be compassionate, but I didn't feel it.

"As time went on there was occasional contact [from senior diocesan authorities] but I certainly didn't feel there was the compassionate support I deserved."

Not a good outlook

Sadly, Fr. Brennan's reaction is quite reflective of a perceived attitude that we have cited before: that bishops are swift to abandon priests accused of abuse, no matter how flimsy the charges are. Writing about the Church scandals in August 2011, Catholic scholar Dr. Jeff Mirus wrote:

"Ever since the sexual abuse scandal broke over ten years ago, good priests have complained that they frequently do not get the kind of support from their bishop that they would expect when faced with allegations of misconduct. The attitude of many bishops seems to have changed from an assumption of innocence to a desire to distance oneself as quickly as possible from anyone who is accused. While guilty priests must be promptly removed from priestly service, not all who are accused are guilty."

Meanwhile, a few years ago, a senior priest described accused clerics as follows: "They feel shunned by their bishops, and describe themselves as lepers."

Unfortunately, years after the above comment was made, the outlook for accused priests does not seem any more bright or just. While accusations against priests must be thoroughly and promptly investigated, even by law enforcement authorities, it seems we are still at a place where accused priests are presumed guilty, even by their own bishops.

(HT: Phil Lawler, CatholicCulture.org)

"Walking on air": Rev. Eugene Boland is thrilled after being exonerated

Very few priests speak publicly about their horrifying ordeals of being falsely accused of child sex abuse, but Rev. Eugene Boland is doing so after a jury in Derry, Ireland, unanimously found him not guilty in June of the flimsy claim that he had somehow "inappropriately touched" a girl over two decades earlier.

The verdict brought an end to what the priest now calls "the darkest two years of my life."

From "a priest's worst nightmare" to victory

On March 31, 2010, Fr. Boland received the phone call that every priest fears. His bishop was on the line, and he told him to contact the diocese's child safeguarding leader the next day.

"That was a bleak day," Boland told the Irish Independent. "It just came out of the blue … I was shell-shocked. I'm sitting in my home on my own. I didn't know what the allegation was, or who was making it."

"I didn't sleep that night," says the priest.

The popular priest was eventually ripped from the ministry he so loved and forced to withstand screaming front-page headlines about his case, aggressive police tactics, and a high-profile criminal trial.

Throughout the ordeal, however, Boland felt a sense of "relief" over the fact that he knew he was innocent and there would be an opportunity to publicly make his case.

When the jury returned the unanimous "not guilty" verdicts, the priest could not have been more ecstatic. "I could have skipped down the street outside the courthouse. There was an overwhelming feeling of relief – that I had been heard and I had been vindicated.

"I have been walking on air ever since," says Fr. Boland.

And even though the priest's parishioners have been "extremely angry" at the accuser for lodging her completely bogus allegation, Boland has told the Derry Journal that he has "forgiven that person because to hold bitterness or anger would weigh me down … I always believed the truth would come out in the end."

Issues still unresolved

Although this story has a happy ending, there are still some aspects are troublesome.

Even though Rev. Boland was exonerated two months ago, he has yet to return to his parish assignment, as he still awaits official word from Rome for permission to return to ministry. Why the long wait?

In addition, the media still have not addressed the patent unfairness of Catholic priests being forced into having to prove that they didn't do something decades earlier. Think about it. How does one go about this? As Joe Maher, president of Opus Bono Sacerdotii ("Work for the Good of the Priesthood"), once said, "If you think it's tough proving an allegation from 30 years back, try disproving it."

The platform for accused priests is literally "guilty until proven innocent," yet very few people seemed too worked up about this unjust predicament, especially those in the media. And if there any evidence of men from other professions having to endure these same ordeals of trying to disprove allegations from so long ago, we haven't seen it.

Our world's priests remain very vulnerable targets, as this case amply demonstrates.

However, the recent release of the annual report from the Catholic Church's National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC, Ireland) tells a radically different story.

While even a single abuse allegation is upsetting, from April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, of 237 total allegations of abuse against Catholic priests, only six accusations alleged abuse within the past dozen years, since 2000. This represents one allegation every other year in all of Ireland in recent memory.

In other words, as in the United States, the abuse of children by Catholic priests in Ireland is a tragic era from years past.

However, don't look for these facts to be reported the next time the New York Times reports about the Catholic Church and sex abuse in Ireland.

Falsely Accused Priest Rev. Kevin Reynolds

Nearly a year after Irish television network RTÉ defamed an innocent Catholic priest, employees connected to the incident have resigned.

The resignations are on the heels of a major television scandal that erupted in Ireland last May.

An RTÉ program called "Mission to Prey," (part of the series Prime Time Investigates) falsely claimed that an Irish priest, Rev. Kevin Reynolds, had raped and impregnated a teenage girl decades earlier in Africa. It also reported that the priest had abandoned a daughter he fathered.

After the story was exposed as a complete fabrication, the network admitted that the show "ought never to have been broadcast" and its claims were "baseless, without any foundation whatever and untrue."

RTÉ has been reeling ever since.

A network takes a big tumble

Riding the wave of worldwide reports of sex abuse by priests in the Catholic Church, last May's "Mission to Prey" program sought to profile pedophile priests in Ireland. In doing so, it chronicled the claim that Rev. Reynolds had committed abominable crimes.

Even before the program aired, Fr. Kevin vehemently denied the the charges against him. Not only did he assert that he had never even known anyone by the accuser's name, but he also offered to take a paternity test.

But RTÉ was anxious to air the show and attack the Church. Even against the advice of the network's own legal counsel, RTÉ broadcasted the program anyway.

As a result of the allegations, Fr. Reynolds was forced to leave his parish ministry and home. Yet two conclusive paternity tests later proved that there was no way that the priest could be the father of the accuser's daughter.

Last November, the network agreed to pay "more than €1 million, including costs" to Fr. Kevin for the libel it had committed.

Nearly a year after the defamatory program, the network is still suffering from credibility and financial issues. RTÉ has announced it is closing its London bureau and is facing a deficit of €20 million. The network has also permanently cancelled the Prime Time Investigates series.

A damaging report is delivered

Media outlets are now reporting that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has completed and handed over an independent report about its investigation into how RTÉ's libel of Fr. Kevin unfolded.

The Irish Times reports:

"[The] investigation would likely have covered the source of the original false allegation, legal proceedings that followed the broadcast of the programme and the reason why RTÉ decided to go ahead with the broadcast when Fr. Reynolds had offered to take a paternity test."

The network faces a fine up to €250,000, and it has 14 days to formally respond to the report.

Meanwhile, RTÉ has announced, "There will be a full restructuring of television current affairs management and structures."

Although the terms of the arrangement are confidential, the Irish Times is reporting that Fr. Reynolds will receive "more than €1 million, including costs."

Last May, RTÉ aired a high-profile, prime-time special entitled, "A Mission to Prey," with the clear goal of lambasting the Catholic Church for sex abuse scandals

Even before the program aired, Fr. Kevin vehemently denied the show's claims against him. The priest even hired attorneys before the show to notify the network that the claims were false. Not only did he assert that he had never even known anyone by the accuser's name, but he also agreed to a paternity test.

But RTÉ was anxious to air the show, and it broadcast the program anyway.

As a result of the allegations, Fr. Reynolds was forced to leave his parish ministry and home.

Two conclusive paternity tests later demonstrated that there was no way that Fr. Reynolds could be the father of the accuser's child.

RTÉ eventually acknowledged that the program "ought never to have been broadcast." It also admitted its accusations were "baseless, without any foundation whatever and untrue," and the defamation had "a devastating effect on Fr. Kevin Reynolds, his family, his peers, [and] his parishioners."

Outside the High Court, Fr. Sean McDonagh, from the Association of Catholic Priests, spoke forcefully and directly about how the media has unfairly characterized and besmirched Catholic clergy. It is definitely worth a listen.

[This has been a follow-up to TheMediaReport.com's post, "Irish TV Network Defames Innocent Priest, Issues Apology," from earlier this month. Readers can see the video of the original segment from RTÉ that defamed Fr. Reynolds.]

The show made the startling claim that a previously unblemished Irish priest, Fr. Kevin Reynolds, had raped and impregnated a young girl years earlier in Kenya. It even claimed that the priest had secretly supported the mother and his child financially.

Even before the program aired, Fr. Kevin vehemently denied the claims. Not only did he assert that he had never even known anyone by the accuser's name, but he also agreed to a paternity test.

But RTÉ was anxious to air the show and attack the Church, so it broadcast the program anyway.

As a result of the allegations, Fr. Reynolds was forced to leave his parish ministry and home.

Now it turns out that a paternity test has proved that there was no way that Fr. Reynolds could be the father of the woman's daughter.

If you have six minutes, check out this unbelievable hatchet job on a totally innocent man. (The video says it's 7 minutes long, but the last minute is just credits.)

RTÉ has since issued an apology.

RTÉ acknowledges that the material in the programme concerning Fr. Reynolds ought never to have been broadcast.

RTÉ now fully and unreservedly accepts that the allegations made by Prime Time against Fr. Kevin Reynolds are baseless, without any foundation whatever and untrue and that Fr. Reynolds is a priest of the utmost integrity who has had an unblemished 40 year career in the priesthood and who has made a valuable contribution to society in Kenya and Ireland both in education and in ministry.

RTÉ acknowledges the defamation has had a devastating effect on Fr. Kevin Reynolds, his family, his peers, his parishioners in Ahascragh, those in the diocese of Kakamega in Kenya who were aware of the allegations and all those who know him or of him.

There have been reports that libel proceedings against the network will begin this month.

This episode provides some valuable lessons: The accuser and her daughter are very detailed and convincing when chronicling their charges in the interview. This should serve as a future caution to all when weighing the credibility of certain claims.

In addition, Fr. Reynolds has handled his exoneration with honor and grace. Despite this incredible ordeal, he says that he harbors no "anger or resentment" or "bitterness."

Fr. Reynolds "carried his cross with great dignity," said his bishop.

The return of the innocent priest prompted three standing ovations from the congregation that celebrated his homecoming.