It’s possible nuns abused youngsters, admits sister
THE sister in a charge of a Catholic religious order yesterday admitted it was a ‘possibility’ that children were abused by nuns at a controversial home.
Smyllum Park, in Lanark, was run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul from 1860 to 1981, looking after an estimated 4,400 children since 1930.
Youngsters were referred by the Catholic Church and councils if their parents had died, or could no longer look after them, and were cared for by nuns.
The home has been at the centre of multiple allegations of physical abuse. A memorial was recently erected there in memory of more than 100 children thought to have been buried in unmarked graves.
It has also been alleged a six-yearold boy died there in 1964, while the nun who abused him has died.
Sister Ellen Flynn, leader of the order in Britain, was asked about alleged abuse at the home at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) in Edinburgh yesterday.
She claimed the allegations were a ‘mystery’. But asked by chairman Lady Smith, a High Court judge, if the order had considered that the abuse claims may be ‘well-founded’, Sister Flynn replied: ‘There’s always a possibility.’
But she said there was nothing to back up the allegations. Sister Flynn said: ‘In our records, we can confirm no evidence has been found that substantiates any of the allegations.
‘We accept accusations have been made and we are appalled something like that may have been acceptable, and very sorry, but we cannot confirm there was abuse.’
Lead senior counsel Colin MacAulay, QC, questioned Sister Flynn about the order’s constitution, which stressed the need for ‘compassion’ in dealing with children, and she agreed it should have been in place at Smyllum.
Sister Flynn was unable to provide the number of allegations that had been made but revealed there had been a recent claim investigated by police. No further action was taken and the alleged culprit has died.
Sister Flynn said: ‘Our commitment is one of seeking the truth and doing everything we can to seek that truth.’
Asked by Mr MacAulay if she would have expected a record of abuse to have been kept, Sister Flynn said ‘hardly anything was written down’.
She said: ‘We have searched and searched and given you everything we have got.’
Sister Flynn said if the allegations were proven to be true, they would be proof of ‘systemic fault’ within the order, but ‘we have no evidence that there was [abuse]’. She said: ‘I have huge sympathy for the situation but I am also conscious of our sisters and their mission and ministry, and wanting to be absolutely just to both.’
Mr MacAulay asked if the allegations were true, why would that abuse have been allowed to occur?
Sister Flynn said it would be ‘inexcusable’, adding: ‘It’s a mystery at the moment. I cannot offer you more than that.’
She suggested that some of the allegations may be related to the practices of the time in which they were said to have happened, but Mr MacAulay told her: ‘Abuse is abuse is abuse, at any point in time.’
One of the campaigners who fought for the launch of the SCAI was a resident at Smyllum Park, and gave evidence before his death in April.
Frank Docherty, who was 74, was a founder of the charity In Care Abuse Survivors.
In 1954, aged nine, he and his siblings were sent to the home, where he said he suffered abuse including beatings.
The inquiry has heard that in his statement, Mr Docherty had demanded ‘justice for what happened’ and said: ‘The way we were treated caused emotional damage.’
Mr MacAulay told Sister Flynn Smyllum Park would feature in the inquiry’s finished report as a ‘case study’.
It is understood this will involve a particular focus on the allegations surrounding the home and its practices. The inquiry continues.
‘Appalled and very sorry’
‘No evidence of abuse’