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A crow flies past the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park, in Dublin, Ireland - Source: Reuters -
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The Catholic order of Christian Brothers, under pressure after
the publication of a report cataloging decades of rapes and
beatings of children by priests, said it would review compensation
to victims.
Irish religious orders had refused to renegotiate a deal for
victims despite pressure from church leaders and politicians after
the publication of the report last week into abuse at institutions
the orders ran between the 1930s and the 1970s.
"The Christian Brothers accept, with shame, the findings of the
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse," it said.
"The congregation is deeply sorry for the hurt we have
caused."
Religious orders' total contribution to a redress scheme for
thousands of victims that is expected to top one billion euros
($2.24 billion) was capped at 127 million euros under a 2002
agreement.
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse said in its harrowing
five-volume report that took nine years to compile that orphanages
and industrial schools in 20th century Ireland were places of fear,
neglect and endemic sexual abuse.
Chaired by a High Court judge, the commission blasted successive
generations of priests, nuns and the Christian Brothers for
beating, starving and, in some cases raping, children in Ireland's
now defunct network of industrial and reformatory schools.
The 18 orders that signed the deal with the government - including
the Christian Brothers - said they did not want to renegotiate its
terms.
The Christian Brothers begged forgiveness for the children's
suffering and said they would review how much they could pay in
reparation without compromising current services and
investment.
"This review process will extend to all of our resources above and
beyond such accommodation and means necessary to maintain the
members of our congregation and to support selected commitments at
home and overseas," it said.
The order will release an update on the question of compensation
within six weeks, it said, adding it would also conduct a wider
review of the entire order that had lost its way and failed in its
most basic duty.
Successful legal action by the Christian Brothers, the largest
provider of residential care for boys in the country in the period
examined by the report, led the Commission to drop its original
intention to name the people against whom the allegations were
made.
Revelations of abuse, including a string of scandals involving
priests molesting young boys, have eroded the Catholic Church's
moral authority in Ireland, once one of the most religiously devout
countries in the world.
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