We must know, we must must look into the past, we must open that door

THE horrors that went on in the mother and baby home in Tuam are something that we already had some inkling of, but it is really only since late last week that the true extent of what occurred there has been revealed.

Tragically what we now know about the ‘significant’ quantities of human remains had been found buried under the site of a former institution for unmarried mothers run by the Sisters of the Bon Secours may only be the tip of the iceberg.

We may never know the full extent of the heartbreak, tragedy and grief that went on in that home.

We might be better off not knowing, leaving the past behind us and not opening that door.

Leaving the past behind us, burying our heads in the sand is not an option, but it would be easier, rather than trying to understand how what happened, could have happened. How young babies and infants could be buried in such a manner. How young mothers could be treated in such a way. How a religious order who ran the home could seemingly oversee such a regime where vulnerable and helpless human beings could be buried in such a way. How the Sisters of the Bon Secours could treat young woman and their babies in such a way.

Not knowing, leaving the past behind us, not opening that door, means that we don’t have to try and understand something that is so alien to human nature, that is so utterly incomprehensible.

Not knowing, leaving the past behind us, not opening that door, means that we don’t have to face up to the grim reality that the Catholic Church in Ireland not only was a serial abuser of young children, physically and sexually, but that same Catholic Church was in a position of trust and care for young babies, infants and women and systematically failed them.

Not knowing, leaving the past behind us, not opening that door means that we do not have to face up to another scandal in the Catholic Church.

Not knowing, leaving the past behind us, not opening that door, means that we do not have to look into our hearts and souls, that we do not have to look into the mirror and see the kind of society Ireland was that allowed such things to happen, to allow young women have no place to turn to other than a place in which they and their child would suffer, a society in which young unmarried pregnant women were hidden.

Unfortunately we do not have a choice, we must face up to the dreadful secrets that are being disclosed in Tuam.

We owe that much to the victims and their survivors.

We must again face up to the reality of what went on in the Catholic Church and the oppressive influence that they had on our society.

We must again hold a mirror up to our society and face the ugly truth.

We must know. We must face the past. We must open that door. To know. To try and understand. To learn. To forgive may be too much to ask.