Bishops would support a day of atonement

The country’s bishops would support the holding of a national day of atonement where the Church, State, and citizens seek forgiveness for the legacy of abuse in industrial schools.

A spokesman for the bishops last night said they would not be against the idea once it was “sensitively organised” and not a rushed exercise.

Standing at the altar of a Co Waterford church during Mass on Sunday, 67-year-old survivor Christopher Heaphy raised the idea of an annual day of atonement which he said would act as an “everlasting reminder for everyone that such disgraceful treatment of the weakest in our society must never again be allowed to happen”.