THE NEED for reforms arising from the Ryan report has been expressed in two publications from the Dominican congregation, one of the 18 which managed residential institutions for children investigated by the Ryan Commission.
In a reference to Martin Luther's pinning of his 95 theses to a church door, an editorial in the current issue of Religious Life Reviewpointed out that the Ryan report "has pinned a list of theses to the door of many Catholic chapels, convents and priories".
Its author, Fr Tom McCarthy, continued: “The text is not a statement of what those resident there ought to believe or how to behave. Rather it provides a graphic account of the suffering undergone, and where.
“What is affixed now to the door of where I live must become a call to Gospel value, addressed to all who live within.”
An editorial by Fr Bernard Treacy in the current issue of Doctrine Lifemagazine has said that "bewilderingly, church bodies seemed to be unprepared for the report and its implications". These he described as "profound".
The Ryan report “creates a whole new reality: in this one event, we have a comprehensive account of systemic failure – on the part of the State, of society, and of the church – to cherish children”. He asked: “How could people vowed to the Gospel so cruelly treat the little ones? What kind of God were we worshipping?”
He continued that “now there can be no more glossing over the truth. Our eyes have been opened to the need for deep reforms – reforms both to protect the children now and in the future, and reforms in how the church functions, so that the actions of its organs will not again distort the Gospel.”