Hi °C | Lo °C Madam – It was very wrong that women were treated harshly in the Magdalene homes, but the other forgotten victims of these homes are the many nuns who in a spirit of faith and love gave their whole lives caring for girls and women abandoned by the State, society and sometimes by their own families. These nuns did their best within the constraints of religious life and rules to help. There were no other people queuing up to provide refuge or help to these unfortunate women, nor were there any people calling to the nuns to say "close down the laundries and we will raise funds to help".
Granted there were some nuns who failed; these should not have become nuns in the first place, being unfit for what was a very demanding vocation. In a sense they too were "victims" in life, unhappy and frustrated, just as there are some misfits in all professions, in the gardai, clergy, teachers, even among journalists, who can cause misery to others. Let us not condemn all for the misbehaviour of the few.
(Fr) Con McGillicuddy
Raheny, Dublin 5
