Bishop of Waterford 'ashamed and upset' by findings of Mother and Baby Homes report

Asked whether criminal investigations and charges could be brought upon priests and nuns who operated the institutions, the Bishop said 'I think so. Yes.'

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan said the stories he had heard about the homes were “harrowing and gut-wrenching." File Picture

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan has said that he was both “ashamed and upset” to read the findings of the report of the Commission of Investigation in Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland.

Speaking to Déise Today on WLR FM this afternoon, the Bishop said the stories he had heard were “harrowing and gut-wrenching” and that he could "only imagine what life was like" for those who experienced the horrors of the homes.

“Fairness and justice are what these women should have got, and didn’t,” he said.

The Bishop accepted that the Catholic Church takes responsibility for what had happened in the homes, and said that “awful things” were done in the homes in the name of Christ.

“Calling a baby a ‘piglet’ is utterly un-Chrisitan and reproachable and to be condemned outright, and that kind of attitude towards a human person is inexcusable.

Bishop Cullinan issued a “heartfelt sorry” on behalf of himself and on behalf of “the lord himself”. 

Asked whether criminal investigations and charges could be brought upon priests and nuns who operated these institutions, the Bishop said “I think so. Yes.”

“To allow a baby to die and not to do anything about it is totally and utterly wrong — absolutely."

The Bishop also admitted the Catholic Church bore some responsibility for so strictly laying down rules which led to the events seen in mother and baby homes.

“What happened went on these homes, was a twisting of what should have been truth and justice and goodness.

To treat a human being as a second class citizen, and as rubbish, as trash, is, was and always will be wrong and inexcusable.” 

The Bishop said he couldn’t get his head around some of the “harrowing and inexcusable” details included in the report.

He said priests, nuns, and other Church members involved "failed in the first and most important thing — to show love. "

Addressing revelations in the report that showed that children in mother and baby homes were used as ‘guinea pigs’ for vaccine trials, the Bishop said such actions were “totally wrong, uncharitable and unchristian”. 

“It goes against the UN Charter for Human Rights. That should not have happened."

He also agreed with a listener who wrote to WLR FM expressing her view that the church should be “held responsible for murders of lives ruined.” 

"That is true,” he said.