Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin welcomed the report's publication, saying such reports "bring to light the profound injustices perpetrated against the vulnerable in our society over a long period of time – against women and children whose lives were regarded as less important than the lives of others."
"The silence which surrounded this shameful time in the history of our land had long needed to be shattered," he said. "The pain of those who were hidden away must be heard; those once largely without a voice now can speak clearly to our world, and we need to listen, even when what we hear pierces to the heart."
"A genuine response is required: ours – as a Church and a society – can only be a full apology, without any reservation. There should never have been a time for avoidance and facile solutions," he said. "This country, the Church, our communities and families are better places when the light of truth and healing are welcomed. May the Lord's compassion be the touchstone of our response. May the light of Christ bring healing to all."
Bishop Tom Deenihan of Meath also apologized, saying: "While a lack of resources and an intense social poverty go some way towards contextualizing the period of this report, the lack of kindness and compassion, as identified by the commission, is also clear."
Residents and children born in these institutions suffered from "unacceptable conditions" and inadequate assistance, and they have been "unfairly burdened with an unwarranted but enduring sense of shame," he said.
The long-closed Tuam Children's Home in County Galway became notorious after the discovery of an unmarked mass grave for children. Some 2,219 women and 3,251 children had been at the home, and 978 children died-80 percent before their first birthday.
The home was operated by the Bon Secours Sisters in from 1925 to 1961. In addition to unmarried mothers and their babies, it also accepted children of destitute and homeless families as well as children with special needs.
It is likely that many children who died are buried in the memorial gardens, but while there are records of their deaths there is no record of their burial places.
The Bon Secours sisters offered "profound apologies." They said that the children who died at the home were buried in a "disrespectful and unacceptable way," the Irish Times reports.
Sister Eileen O'Connor, the local superior of the Bon Secour Sisters, said Jan. 12 that the report "presents a history of our country in which many women and children were rejected, silenced and excluded; in which they were subjected to hardship; and in which their inherent human dignity was disrespected, in life and in death. Our Sisters of Bon Secours were part of this sorrowful history."
"We failed to respect the inherent dignity of the women and children who came to the home. We failed to offer them the compassion that they so badly needed. We were part of the system in which they suffered hardship, loneliness and terrible hurt," O'Connor said. "We acknowledge in particular that infants and children who died at the home were buried in a disrespectful and unacceptable way. For all that, we are deeply sorry."
Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam also welcomed the report and asked forgiveness for "the abject failure of the Church for the pain and suffering visited on those women and their children."
"The Church of Jesus Christ was intended to bring hope and healing, yet it brought harm and hurt for many of these women and children," he said. "Many were left broken, betrayed and disillusioned. For them, and all of us, these revelations seriously tarnished the image of the Church."
The Galway County Council owned the Tuam home and was responsible for the residents, and the sisters operated it. The diocese had no administrative role. However, Neary emphasized, the diocese had a pastoral role, "in that the priests of Tuam parish served as chaplains."
"Today, how can we even begin to comprehend the raw pain and psychological damage of family separation and its devastating consequences on loving mothers and on the emotional development of their children?" he asked. "Must we ask as to the whereabouts of the fathers? Had the Church been more forthright in acknowledging the responsibility of the men who fathered these children, the outcome for many young mothers and their children would have been very different indeed."
The diocesan archives on the home have been shared with the commission, but the archive does not have information on the living conditions. Neary lamented the absence of burial location records, saying the burials have "understandably, caused the most outrage." He welcomed any progress in uncovering the full truth.
Dublin's Regina Coeli hostel, founded by the Legion of Mary, appeared to show some ability to break with the trends of Irish society. The full report's 21st chapter says that the hostel was "the only institution that assisted unmarried mothers to keep their infant" before the 1970s, the Iona Institute reports.
"Although the mothers who kept their babies were a minority until the 1970s, the proportion was undoubtedly much higher than for any other institution catering for unmarried mothers"
Venerable Frank Duff, the layman founder of the Legion of Mary, wrote a 1950 memorandum to the Department of Health about encouraging women to keep their children. Duff opposed committing children to Ireland's industrial schools, which have also been the target of historical inquiry for poor conditions and abuse of their residents.
The hostel received no regular state support. At the same time, babies of women at the hostel suffered a high mortality rate, which peaked in the 1940s, and other reports have questioned the conditions there.