The media have not given a fair hearing to the Christian Brothers, writes the head of the order, Brother Edmund Garvey
In recent weeks, following the transmission of two programmes by RTE's Prime Time series, there was considerable media comment regarding certain alleged actions of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, particularly in Canada and Ireland.
A number of newspaper articles made specific allegations against the Christian Brothers.
Some of the coverage strongly implied, in the language now used to create such impressions, that illegal or unjust actions had been undertaken by the Christian Brothers and their professional advisers in relation to assets under the responsibility of the congregation or its provinces and their legal structures in different parts of the world.
Child abuse can never be excused. Nothing that the Christian Brothers say or write can ever fully repair or recover the hurt that has been caused to children damaged through sexual or physical abuse by individual members of the congregation in any country.
Anything that we now say is not intended to be construed as in any way mitigating or excusing any form of abuse perpetrated on these children.
Leadership in the congregation has expressed its horror at these incidents and its sorrow and profound regret for any such abuses.
Congregational leadership in different parts of the world has sought to respond with pastoral compassion and care. A range of counselling and support services for those who suffered has been offered and sponsored by the congregation without question or qualification.
Compensation claims have been settled. Others are still ongoing. Some members of the congregation have been found guilty and imprisoned for crimes committed.
However, the congregation's efforts to bring healing, recompense, justice and a new way forward have been ignored by the media in Ireland. Moreover, the good work done by thousands of Christian Brothers who have ministered throughout the world during the last 200 years is frequently forgotten and overlooked.
In attempting to respond to various comments and allegations, as congregation leader, I issued a statement on Friday, December 7th, and held press briefings for a number of journalists in Dublin.
Despite this genuine attempt to outline the truth behind various inferences and allegations - particularly those regarding legal or financial irregularities - the response in some sections of the media was to ignore significant elements of the issued statement.
Some people continue to make further untrue allegations, once again in the language of inference but which may not necessarily constitute defamation or libel.
The mission of the congregation in Ireland and throughout the world is undertaken in collaboration with many people. Teachers, parents, professional and volunteer staff and advisers are in partnership with the Christian Brothers.
They have a right to the truth and to a just and balanced treatment of our actions, as indeed have those with no specific affiliation to or interest in our work.
Allegations have been made that the Christian Brothers in Canada possessed 100 million Canadian dollars in 1991. It has been suggested or alleged that these funds were subsequently "moved" out of Canada with a view, allegedly, of placing them beyond the consequences of liquidation and payment of compensation to victims.
It must be denied categorically that the Christian Brothers in Canada ever possessed $100 million in 1991 or at any other time.
Furthermore, the Christian Brothers in Canada never transferred anything to any offshore company in Ireland or elsewhere for any purpose whatsoever. These are absolute facts, and the people who have made claims to the contrary are wrong.
The estimation of the sum of $100 million was presented to the Brothers' leadership in Canada in 1991. Estimated values were ascribed to properties, including schools, which were not owned by the brothers. In some instances educational or church authorities owned some of the properties and schools although they were managed and staffed by the Christian Brothers.
The accounts of Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada Incorporated (CBIC) were audited annually by Ernst and Young up to the time of liquidation in 1996.
Within those audited accounts, there is no reference to any transactions, separately or collectively, involving the disposal of $100 million. These accounts have been available to the liquidator.
When misinformation is fed to an understandably unsuspecting public through various media outlets, an explanation is necessary.
The allegation that some assets were "kept out of the compensation picture" refers to two schools in Vancouver.
One was established as an independent trust in 1927 and funded by individual donations. The initial capital funding and establishment of the other was totally independent of the Christian Brothers.
The precise legal ownership of these schools had never been at issue before the liquidation of CBIC. These circumstances made it necessary to clarify the issue of ownership.
I believe, however, that it is very understandable that the parents and management boards of these schools have attempted to defend them from the inevitable closure and sale that would follow if the Canadian courts - which are determining these matters at present - decide that they do form part of the CBIC in liquidation.
The most important point to understand, however, in regard to the school properties is that any decision by the courts will not benefit the Christian Brothers in any financial fashion whatsoever.
Legal judgments may either provide for the closure and sale of two schools or the continued provision of Catholic education for boys and girls in Vancouver. Quotations, by particular journalists, of extracts from correspondence to me from our Irish advisers relate to their advice on these school properties.
The quotation of only parts of sentences, together with the absence of precise and accurate contexts, were either designed to create a false impression or resulted from an incomplete briefing of these journalists by some unidentified third party.
The editor has received a copy of the relevant letter and is free to publish it, accompanied by an outline of the context in which it was written.
In summary, the letter of March 1996 from our Irish advisers, which was accompanied by an earlier letter from a Canadian attorney, recommends that the shares in the trust company of one of the schools should henceforth be held by Richmond Newstreet, a charitable company that has been registered in Ireland to support the charitable work of the congregation leadership team.
This advice was entirely legitimate and was based on the specific opinion of the eminent Canadian attorney that the school trust company did not form part of the assets of the Christian Brothers Canadian Corporation.
Bearing in mind that the holding of the shares in this company was solely a legal duty and did not confer any beneficial rights of ownership, such advice was both morally sound and professionally justifiable.
In the event, it was decided that no such transfer would take place, a fact that is a matter of court record in Canada and once again known to those who have alleged malfeasance.
Richmond Newstreet - the title refers to two of the earliest foundations established by Blessed Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers - is a company established in Ireland.
The primary purpose of this company is to assist the international mission of the congregation. It has been granted charitable exemption by the Irish Revenue Commissioners. It submits an annual return to the Companies Office.
The commissioners are entitled to inspect its financial statements. They last requested and received the financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 1999.
Richmond Newstreet has never received any funding from Canada, nor has it ever been used to secrete funds from jurisdictions where the Christian Brothers were facing compensation settlements.
Thecompany was established in 1994 to provide for progressively changing roles and needs of the congregational leadership in the developing mission of the congregation. The directors apply the assets for apostolic, charitable and humanitarian purposes, particularly in the furtherance of the life and ministry of the Congregation of Christian Brothers.
Since its foundation, Richmond Newstreet has provided assistance for the life and ministry of brothers in many parts of the world, particularly for those working among the poor and marginalised. Through it, the congregation leadership team is now supporting missions in countries such as Zambia, Ghana, Sudan, Gambia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, India and South Africa.
In the past, the Congregation of Christian Brothers has rarely if ever commented on what it considered to be its private business. However, we recognise that society has changed.
We welcome the development of transparency and accountability and fully subscribe to the legal process and regulation that this requires.
We believe that accountability should be applied in an even-handed fashion and thus consider it appropriate in this instance to respond here to the record that has been created, whether mistakenly or otherwise, of our actions in these matters.
Regardless of any legal action that the congregation might consider, I deem it appropriate and necessary at this point to ensure that truth is served and the relevant facts are made available to the public.
I do not believe that those who work with and for us should have to suffer the impact of false inferences and allegations against the congregation merely because "the wheels of justice grind slowly". Furthermore, at personal and congregational levels, we totally reject and resent the imputation of guilt by association.
The Christian Brothers continue to deal with negative aspects of the past. They are also developing a new kind of future. In the interests of fairness, more people should attend to current realities in order to appreciate the changes and developments in our times.
We are endeavouring to live in the light of our truth. It would be good for other professionals who deal with these issues to offer the same transparency and accountability, in the financial, legal and reporting terms, that they are demanding of the Christian Brothers.
Brother Edmund Garvey is congregation leader of the
Christian Brothers