Archbishop tells abuse inquiry: I’m deeply ashamed
A RETIRED Catholic archbishop yesterday sought forgiveness after admitting for the first time that children were abused at the hands of nuns in Scottish children’s homes.
Mario Conti, 84, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that he had been left ‘deeply ashamed’ after revelations of ‘barbaric’ mistreatment by the religious order the Sisters of Nazareth.
They include routine physical abuse, force feeding and the humiliation of children for wetting the bed, the inquiry heard yesterday.
The former Archbishop of Glasgow and Bishop of Aberdeen has previously condemned claims of abuse, accusing whistleblowers at the time of chasing ‘a pot of gold’ on the promise of compensation and describing them as the ‘opposition’. Despite the public apology, Archbishop Conti also told the hearing in Edinburgh he thought previous claims that the Catholic Church had sought to cover-up alleged abuse were ‘unfair’.
He said: ‘I’m deeply ashamed of what has been revealed and I express my pain and sorrow to those who have been abused.
‘Clearly all we are doing here (at 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 by being impartial to the sisters. With evidence of many cases offered to the inquiry I can only feel considerable revulsion.’ Archbishop Conti gave evidence primarily on his knowledge of Nazareth House in Aberdeen. He took up his post in the city in 1977.
The former church leader, who was Archbishop of Glasgow between 2002 and 2012, told the inquiry he first learned of allegations about Nazareth House when two police officers came to his door in the late 1990s.
He said he and other officials had not been aware of any abuse as the nuns ‘ran their own shop’ and ‘jealously defended their autonomy’, refusing access to senior figures.
Archbishop Conti said he now admits he was ‘blindly satisfied’ with the way the home was run and was ‘taken aback’ and ‘shocked’ when the revelations emerged in later decades.
When informed that the inquiry had previously heard evidence from a victim that she had told the Bishop about her alleged abuse during confession, the churchman said he did not recall, but told the inquiry, ‘hypothetically’ the ‘seal of the confessional’ would prevent him from telling the authorities.
He added: ‘There had been no previous complaints to the best of my knowledge.’
When asked for his opinion in the wake of the conviction of Sister Alphonso in September 2000, who was found guilty of four charges of cruel and unnatural treatment towards children at Nazareth House in Aberdeen between 1965 and 1980, Archbishop Conti said: ‘Reflecting on the past I think the allegations that there was a cover up by the Catholic Church in relation to allegations of abuse are unfair.
‘Our instinct is different from other judicial institutions, who are looking to get a truth with a view to punishing a person.
‘The instinct of the Catholic Church is to try and heal what has happened and to ensure the person who has done that is not going to do it again.’
The inquiry, before Lady Smith, continues.
‘The nuns ran their own shop’