Mother-and-baby homes: Archbishop 'disappointed' if churches 'scapegoated'

Archbishop Martin apologised to survivors for the long-lasting hurt and emotional distress they suffered

The leader of the Irish Catholic Church has said he would be disappointed if religious congregations were to carry all the blame for the country's mother-and-baby homes.

Archbishop Eamon Martin said he accepted the church "needs to do reparation".

A 2,800-page report found an "appalling level of infant mortality" at the homes.

The institutions housed women and girls who became pregnant outside marriage.

Established in the 19th and 20th Centuries, about 9,000 children died in the 18 institutions under investigation, some of which were operated by the Irish Catholic Church.

Many children born in the homes were adopted or taken to orphanages run by Catholic nuns.

'Banished by society'

The Church of Ireland has apologised for its involvement in running a Protestant mother and baby home in Dublin.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin apologised for the "profound and generational wrong" done to survivors of mother-and-baby homes.

Archbishop Martin also "apologised unreservedly" for the church's role in a culture which "frequently stigmatised, judged and rejected" people.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE on Sunday, Archbishop Martin said the homes were "commissioned by the state and local authorities, county councils and expected to intervene when the rest of society had basically banished these mothers".

The mother and baby scandal became an international news story when 'significant human remains' were found in the grounds of a former home in County Galway

He said the homes were subject to inspection and oversight by the Irish state, but there was clear evidence that the "day-to-day running of these institutions was very harsh".

"As soon as women and children went into these places, society didn't seem to want to know any more, be they living or dead," he added.

The archbishop added that the church could "show our apologies are sincere by being willing to contribute" to a compensation scheme.

"Minister O'Gorman has asked for the church to make a contribution to whatever restorative scheme is put in place.

"I do think religious congregations will be willing to play their part generously."

Highest in the world

The commission behind the report made 53 recommendations, including compensation and memorialisation.

Its report stated that while mother-and-baby homes existed in other countries the proportion of unmarried mothers who were in the institutions in Ireland was probably the highest in the world.

However, leader of the Seanad (upper house of the Irish parliament) Regina Doherty described the report as "callous".

She told RTÉ that it was "not good enough to stand alone as the nation's response to generations of women who were mistreated at the hands of the church and the state".

There have been calls for a separate in inquiry into mother-and-baby homes in Northern Ireland.