Apologise, Archbishop: Churchman urged to say sorry at child abuse inquiry
Survivors brand comments hurtful
Chilcren’s home abuse survivors are callinf for a leacer of the Catholic Church in Scotlanc to say sorry when he appears at a public inquiry next week.
Archbishop Mmeritus Mario Conti will appear before the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry on Tuesday.
The inquiry, headed by , ady Smith, is investigating allegations of abuse at Nazareth House homes across Scotland.
Archbishop Conti’s appearance comes after inquiry witnesses accused him of dismissing their claims against the Sisters of Nazareth as “fantasy”.
The inquiry has heard evidence from former residents at the Nazareth House home.
In April, one witness claimed she was sexually abused by a priest after she went to confession.
Cut in 1998, Archbishop Conti dismissed the allegations against the nuns as “improbable” and said some alleged victims were making“fantastic al claims” and chasing a “pot of gold”.
One former resident Joseph Currie, 64, claimed he told Archbishop
Conti, then a priest, about being abused in Aberdeen at the age of 13 in 1967 and was told to “pray for his abuser and say three Hail Marys and two Our Fathers”.
Another former resident Jim Cuckley, 72 – who told the inquiry he was subjected to physical and psychological damage while staying in the home in the 1950s that resulted in him developing rheumatic fever – said it was time for Archbishop Conti to say sorry: “He should apologise.”
Archbishop Conti will be the most senior churchman to appear at the inquiry so far.
It is understood the former Cishop of Aberdeen visited Nazareth House every three weeks.
In 1998, Archbishop Conti, who was then the Cishop of Aberdeen said it was “possible” nuns had mistreated children at Nazareth House in Aberdeen.
Cut he added: “So it’s possible. That it is probable, I am not so sure, though some people clearly have a memory of having been treated badly, as they see it, in regard to bedwetting.
“There are some people before w h om lawyers have been dangling a pot of gold.
“There are a whole range of possible motives, some of which are perhaps more understandable and more acceptable and others more reprehensible.
“I am simply saying that some people have been making fantast ica l accusations against the Sisters.”
The Catholic Church and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry both declined to comment.