Using a dramatic style all too common in this thread, our unnamed Guest says: Eleven days, eleven days it is since the problem arose, and what has your Church done?

There's no doubt that the story of the mother-and-baby homes is a serious one, but most of the story has been known for a long time. While the recent book and film titled Philomena covered a different institution, it was clear that story applied to most or all of the institutions. What problem was it that arose eleven days ago, Guest? It has been public record that there were 796 deaths at the Tuam home in the 44 years from 1925 to 1961. This was 18 deaths a year. People in the community have known for decades that the bodies of the children were buried in the graveyard on the grounds. In 1975, two ten-year-old boys found perhaps 20 skeletons in a hole in the ground with a concrete cover, and some people speculated the hole was a septic tank. The Garda searched the grounds and found no bodies in a septic tank.

So, what's the urgent problem?

In many ways, one could say that the problem was mostly resolved in 1961, by the closing of the institution. It does appear that the clients of the institution were treated poorly, so the institutions were closed for good reason. There are also reports that children at the Tuam home were used to test vaccines. There is no doubt that the history of these homes must be investigated fully, along with the industrial schools and the Magdalene Laundries.

But rushing to answer unfounded claims of bodies in a septic tank? I can't see any reason for that. Better to take the time to investigate the entire situation fully and correctly.

-Joe-