The United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery has been told in Geneva that it was difficult to understand "the absence of any acknowledgement from the Holy See of the experiences of children held within its institutions in Ireland and exploited through forced labour".
Addressing the group yesterday on economic exploitation and forced labour involving children in religious-run institutions in Ireland, Mr Colm O'Gorman, director of the One In Four organisation, continued: "the Holy See has in recent years acknowledged its (his emphasis) pain and distress at the suffering of children sexually abused and exploited by its priests but it has thus far failed to acknowledge the economic exploitation of children perpetrated by sections of the Catholic Church itself." He noted that in March 2002, Pope John Paul II, in his annual letter to priests, "denounced the 'sins of our brothers' which brought scandal upon the Church and made the laity suspicious of even the 'finest' priests. He said: 'We are personally and profoundly afflicted by the sins of some of our brothers'."
Mr O'Gorman continued that it was One in Four's assertion that the Holy See failed to live up to its responsibilities in the case of economic exploitation and forced labour involving children in institutions run by religious but also continued to fail such children, now adults, under article 39 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The organisation also believed "that the Holy See and the Irish Republic failed to protect children against a wide range of abuses under both the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child", he said. "Whilst there have been responses from both State parties [the State and the Holy See] to such abuses, it is our assertion that the Holy See in particular has failed to live up to its responsibilities and obligations under the declaration and convention," he continued.
In recent years Irish society had begun "to face up to some of the appalling human rights abuses perpetrated upon our children, often within Church and State controlled agencies.
"The experiences of those children \ confined within the industrial school system, in reformatories and orphanages, has shocked and horrified Irish society into action.
"We now know that many thousands of these children were horrifically sexually and physically abused and further abused through neglect and the denial of the most basic rights as laid down in the UNCRC [United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child]," he said.
One In Four also wished to emphasise strongly its belief "that the Convention should apply not simply to protect against future abuses but also to respond to past failures and abuses of the rights of children.
"We urge both State parties to honour their commitments under the convention and to urgently act to vindicate the rights of those who were abused by its institutions, organs, personnel and governments.
Mr O'Gorman will today address the UN Working Group on the sexual exploitation of Irish children.
The request for Mr. O'Gorman to address the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery arose from an interview he did with BBC journalist Fergal Keane on the Taking A Stand programme, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 earlier this year.
The invitation was extended by Dr Graham St John-Willey, director of a campaigning organisation called Action for Children Campaign, based in England.