So, it's now the end of the day on 9 June. This episode began with a story in the Irish Times dated 4 June. Here's a line from the beginning of that article:

The revelations that 796 babies died in a mother and baby home in Tuam from 1925 to 1961 and were possibly buried in a septic tank has put renewed focus on such homes.

Headlines all over the world screamed about 800 babies found in a septic tank. Here are some cited in an article published 7 June in the Irish Times:

• "Tell us the truth about the children dumped in Galway's mass graves" – The Guardian.
• "Bodies of 800 babies, long-dead, found in septic tank at former Irish home for unwed mothers" – The Washington Post.
• "Nearly 800 dead babies found in septic tank in Ireland" – Al Jazeera.
• "800 skeletons of babies found inside tank at former Irish home for unwed mothers" – New York Daily News.
• "Almost 800 'forgotten' Irish children dumped in septic tank mass grave at Catholic home" – ABC News, Australia.

The Irish Times article reports details of the research of Catherine Corless. Corless "concludes that many of the children were buried in an unofficial graveyard at the rear of the former home. This small grassy space has been attended for decades by local people, who have planted roses and other flowers there, and put up a grotto in one corner." Reading further in the story, it appears that in 1975, two boys found perhaps 20 skeletons in a concrete vault that may have been a septic tank. That story has continued to grow over the week, as you can see in this thread - with especially entertaining sputtering from MtheGM, Musket, and Jim Carroll (now Mr. Carroll is incensed that I would accuse him of working on a hypothetical "project" with screws and a screwdriver).

Apparently, a similar situation was reported in the 2009 Philomena book and subsequent 2013 movie so the story is widely known and not really a new one. A number of Catholic Officials have made statements of concern about the mother and baby homes and the industrial schools. These matters are under intense study, and rightly so. And yes, they are serious situations.

I have yet to see any statement from a Catholic bishop denying what happened in the homes and industrial schools and Magdalene Laundries. Maybe there were denials in past years, but certainly not recently. I suppose somebody will find an old priest or nun somewhere who's willing to give a denial, but there is widespread knowledge of these stories among Catholics by now, and there is widespread concern.

Despite what the screamers will continue to allege, nobody's denying that these things happened.

And you have never, ever heard a word of denial from me. I think I know my Catholic faith very well, since I have a degree in Theology from a Catholic seminary. Nothing in the teachings of the Catholic Church justifies conduct like the treatment children and others received in the industrial schools, mother and baby homes, and Magdalene Laundries - but yet this institutionalized cruelty happened, under the auspices of my Catholic Church. It is a matter of great concern to me. A large number of my fellow Catholics systematically betrayed the principles of the faith they claimed to profess. And that is a horrible shame.

Still, the story of 800 babies in a septic tank is untrue. Maybe twenty, but we still don't even know that for a fact. The Gardai is conducting an investigation of the graves at Tuam. Maybe we'll know the truth soon. (click).

-Joe Offer-