On pasing the protest which is ongoing at the arch bishops office in Drumcondra I spoke to John on a few occasions asking him to stop the protest at this stage.
17 days on hunger strike is too long.
The press ran with the headline about Graine Shoige getting a divorse, while no one it seems is asking why John is on hunger strike.
So I asked him to write it out and here it is..
The first anniversary of the Ryan Report has come and gone without any arrests in relation to the horrific abuse carried out in institutions by religous orders of the Roman Catholic Church.
Not even recomendations put forward by judge Ryan have been implamented, and considering the figures now being shown by the HSE abuse of children goes on regardless.
Religous abuse truth was started after the release of the Ryan report. Kevin Flanagan (founder) began calling for a full international criminal investigation by holding a 7 day hunger striketo highlight that under article 7 section 2, it is a crime to withold information from the Garda.
I joined Kevin that week in support of his cause. We continued to call for the I.C.I.U. to investigate the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, by collecting signatures.
Now we are at the Arch Bishops palace, now known as the Arch Bishops resedence, holding a hunger strike to highlight the fact that very little has been done since the Ryan report was released although some of the inplementations of the Ryan report have been put in place,little else is being done.
Many of those named in the Ryan report still walk free. Why?
The owth of silence used by the church was put in place to again silence witnesses at the redress board.
Names of the abusers were delibretly crossed out to hide their identity.
We feel it is time for an international criminal investigation be put in place to bring out the truth in its entirity.
Please support by texting..
Support John Ayres calling for a full
International investigation into the
Roman Catholic church in Ireland for
abuses on Irish children..
087 0988072
Please ask your friends to pass this message on.
Poor John had his mobile phone stolen this morning.
What kind of moron robs a man who has been on hunger strike for 17 days !
Time to claim your victory before your health goes John
Jesus said "upon this rock I will build my church"
Did he mean John Ayres or Peter?
John, I'm no expert, but I can tell you to a degree how it unfolded here. The abuse problem was known throughout individual parishes very well. Settlements were made regularly for decades, there was no internet, and commercial media owners, even when they had first hand knowledge of what was happening, would not say a word. Both media owners and public officials who knew first hand of things, honestly believed the church was rehabilitating these priests.Then they found these priests were simply moved as little as a week later to a far away parish. They were honestly shocked, but would still say nothing publicly. I think it was fear. Finally, decades later, roughly 1998, the Boston Globe went flat out on documented investigations and editorials, and all the other media reported what the Globe uncovered. They stayed on it for years, finally uncovering that more than 80 of the more than 800 retired and currently serving priests in the Boston Diocese had either paid a settlement or was currently involved in litigation. No one I knew had realized how wide spread it truly was until this time. The Globe at that time was by far the biggest media in our market (and still is though all newspapers have decreased circulation) but that is what it took to give everyone the courage to come out and tell what they knew. I don't know if that's what you need there to engage public prosecutors or give a heads up to private sector attornies who could proceed with civil litigation, or if, by this time, given the public statements of church officials, you're already beyond this.
ReplyDeleteI've passed this protest every day since it started
ReplyDeleteI just can't believe the media is ignoring this protest
i'm off this weekend and shall make a point to go
there and sign the petition
good luck..
In a country full of SHAME and REGRET, do something to be proud of .SUPPORT JOHN AIRES.MAKE YOUR MARK ,HE needs your support ,sign the petition .without people to back him he and Kevin will lose heart .John and Kevin thank you for giving me faith in mankind once again Joan C
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