Latin terms were used in internal documents to describe sexual assaults by members of the Rosminian congregation on boys at industrial schools at Ferryhouse, Co Tipperary and Upton, Co Cork, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse heard yesterday.
Father Joe O'Reilly, provincial of the congregation in Ireland, told the commission's investigation committee that correspondence found at the Rosminian headquarters in Rome this past year were frequently in Italian, as the superior general was usually of that nationality.
He recalled that letters to Rome from past provincials in Ireland had said relevant members were "indiscreet with boys" and had "sinned against the sixth commandment (thou shalt not commit adultery)"
"I think Latin was used a good bit in correspondence," he said. A letter to Rome from Ireland in 1956 said one member had been "indiscreet cum pueres (with boys) and is in periculum (danger)". Senior Counsel for the committee, Mr Noel McMahon, referred to a letter from 1948 where a member was described as "in admiratio" (enamoured) of boys.
Such details were characteristic of correspondence from Ireland, but not of replies from Rome, which were "vague, and mightn't enter into a discussion with the provincial about the nature of the problem," Father O'Reilly said. Details were only a a feature of correspondence "going out" he said.
He had seen nothing from records to indicate the Department of Education was made aware of any of these cases.
These "were dealt with internally through religious order rules." He was aware that in the 1930s and 40s sexual involvement of boys with boys at Upton was addressed in correspondence with the Department.
In December, 1963, two Rosminians had been removed from Ferryhouse for sexually abusing boys. In such cases "few would have known the position, not in detail." The school manager may have discussed it with one or two senior colleagues and the provincial would have been informed.
"Others would be left wondering" and "were unlikely to be told the truth."
In some cases such offenders were transferred to places where they had access to children, he said. He thought the relevant superior would have been made aware of the problem. He had seen a record of written instructions given to one such abuser, as to what he was allowed do.
In the early 60s a member who had been "indiscreet with boys" was removed from Upton to Ferryhouse, and another to the kitchen at the congregation's secondary school in Omeath, Co Louth.
Father O'Reilly agreed with committee chairman Mr Justice Seán Ryan that sex abuse was regarded as a problem with the individual's vocation and that two things did not feature, - the victims, or the public good where criminal behaviour was concerned. Father O'Reilly also agreed with the judge that the abuse was likely to have been more widespread than records or recollections indicated, and that the use of Latin and terms of circumlocution indicated "a way of thinking."
Father O'Reilly said concerns were for the abuser, the community, whether it (abuse) would get out, be a cause of scandal and affect the congregation's reputation. The fact of members' removal also indicated that there was concern for the boys, he said.
Sexual activity between boys was also seen as a moral issue, he said. He said that the 1956 letter concerning a member being in periculum (danger) where boys were concerned involved a man who "feared contact with boys" as a threat to his moral life.
He was seeking dispensation, but there had never been an abuse complaint against him.
He agreed that avoidance of prosecution was an issue, and recalled a Rosminian priest being transferred to Ireland from England following 15 years of abusive activity there.
The priest was in danger there of imminent prosecution by the police. In Ireland, he lived with his sister and spent his latter days in an enclosed monastery.
