Jesuits decision to name 15 abusers a step in the right direction, says support organisation CEO

Vivienne Clarke

The support organisation One in Four has welcomed the decision of the Jesuit order to name 15 abusers. It was a step in the right direction, said CEO Deirdre Kenny.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Ms Kenny said the decision “goes some way to the transparency that survivors deserve. I will say, though, it's come after years and decades of silence certainly in relation to these 15 individuals. So we know from our experience that will have compounded the harm caused to survivors.”

Ms Kenny said that it was known that silence compounded the feeling of responsibility and shame on survivors which compounded the trauma they experienced.

“There's often a responsibility put on survivors to come forward to tell their story. But in this situation, the Jesuits have almost taken that out of their hands and said, look, we are responsible. And these are 15 people that we knew have allegations against them, which helps.

"But I think transparency is not just about naming people. It's also about creating a safe environment for people to tell their story and to feel empowered around coming forward," she said.

“Our experience is that the Jesuits are less adversarial than many religious congregations, and again, they're to be commended for that. And we know, again, from our experience on the ground and from what survivors tell us that legal processes can again compound and trigger the harm.

"And there's a power dynamic that gets played out in legal processes where survivors can feel very helpless and unheard. So again, we know that the Jesuit order are proactive in that and have acknowledged that and do their best to make those processes easier.”

When asked about compensation for survivors, Ms Kenny said that there wasn’t enough money in the world to compensate people for what had happened to them and it could be very insulting for people.

"People feel that there's a genuine attempt to acknowledge the harm and they can see that a religious congregation has learned from what has happened in the past. I think that goes a long way to reassuring people.”

It was important for institutions of education and sport to have proper safeguards in place to protect children.