I shared a few words at this weekend’s Masses around the report published during the week on Mother and Baby Homes. The report runs to some 3000 pages and documents a tragic and shameful reality of our past, where young girls who became pregnant were, in many cases, taken to homes run by the State but quite often staffed by Religious orders. Here, these girls gave birth to their children. In some cases the children were subsquently adopted and their mothers were not aware of their whereabouts. This has led to understandable hurt in the lives of many people.
I have not read this report but, like most people, have heard some of its content and findings during the week. To read the report would be a mammoth task but there are many who will read its every word. Whether we are numbered among them or not, we need to put right insofar as we can what was so clearly wrong.
This is part of what I said today – the last part as I had written some words that I wanted to share. I realise they are words, and fall far short of what is required but I felt that saying nothing was not an option this weekend.