754. The Sisters of Nazareth group homes

The Sisters of Nazareth ran group homes in Scotland at a number of cities like Aberdeen, Cardonald, Lasswade and Kilmarnock. Recent reports found evidence of abuse of children conducted in the years between 1933 to 1984.

While the present management has issued a statement where they apologise wholeheartedly and unreservedly to those who suffered any form of mistreatment, the question remain why there were no oversight of the group homes that actually worked.

It could not have been fun to be at those places where the daily life included:

• force feeding
• beatings with belts, canes, sticks, broom handles, hairbrushes and crucifixes
• persistent sexual abuse of boys and girls at all four homes, with one nun facilitating the abuse of a girl by men including priests
• children who wet their beds being beaten, given cold baths or forced to wear their wet sheets

Sources:

• Children were abused at homes run by nuns, Scottish inquiry finds (The Guardian)
• Children were subject to sexual abuse of ‘utmost depravity’ at home run by Sisters of Nazareth religious order, inquiry finds (The Daily Mail)
• Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Nazareth Houses were ‘places of fear’ (BBC)