You remember Philomena, don't you? The 2013 film Philomena is the heart-wrenching story of Philomena Lee who searched for and found her missing son after 50 years, with the help of Martin Sexsmith, a reporter. The child was taken from her against her will while she was living in a Roman Catholic home for "unwed mothers" in Ireland and adopted by an American couple. This is a remarkable story of the corrosive nature of power, even in religion, of determination, and ultimately of forgiveness.
Fast-forward to 2017 and the discovery of the remains of as many as 800 children, from foetuses to toddlers beneath one of these homes in Ireland, possibly in a septic tank. It is a sickening revelation, which flies in the face of the Roman Catholic church's opposition to abortion. How can life be so precious that the possibility of aborting any foetus, ever, is a mortal sin, yet discarding "sinful" babies was acceptable?
The Home Tuam Galway Ireland
I try to be careful about ganging up on the RCs because there are enough detractors out there, and those without sin should throw the first stone. Yet there are times when egregious wrongs -- evil -- must be named, would you agree?
This is so unbearably sad. There must be thousands of women who continue to live with the stigma and guilt and grief of that time. And all this perpetrated by the Christian church.
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