SORRY IS SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Angry child abuse survivors hit out at church leader’s apology over failings
A RETIRED archbishop yesterday apologised to victims of abuse suffered at Catholic children’s homes.
Former church leader Mario Conti told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry he was “deeply ashamed” after allegations surfaced of abuse by nuns.
The former Archbishop of Glasgow expressed his “pain and sorrow” to those who have suffered mistreatment.
But the 84-year-old’ was criticised by survivors, with some claiming his statements on the witness stand were “not heartfelt”.
For eight weeks, the probe has examined children’s homes – that have since closed – run by the Catholic congregation the Sisters of Nazareth in Scotland.
It had heard about a catalogue of alleged abuses by nuns at the institutions decades ago. It was also told how children were beaten, force-fed and humiliated at homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth.
Just last month, an anonymous witness claimed when she was a child, a nun regularly took her to a farm where she was raped by a farmer.
Conti gave evidence primarily about Nazareth House in Aberdeen, after taking up the Archbishop post in the city in 1977.
The inquiry was shown a BBC documentary from 1998 focusing on allegations of survivors who had been at Nazareth House institutions.
Archbishop Conti said he was “horrified” by some of the claims made.
Referring to a statement he has submitted to the probe, he told the inquiry: “I am deeply ashamed of what has been revealed and I express my pain and sorrow to those who were abused.
“Clearly, all we are doing (in the inquiry) is an attempt to get to the truth and provide an opportunity for some redress, at least in terms of saying sorry to those who have had bad experiences.
“I hope they will find it in their hearts to forgive their abusers and to forgive me if they feel I was insensitive to their pain.”
But abuse survivor Dave Sharp, who listened from the public benches, said the archbishop’s answers were “not heartfelt.”
He added: “Conti turned up with an agenda of denial and ignorance. He didn’t talk much about care and compassion. From a survivor’s point of view, it was evident he had neither within him.”