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The Home Babies: The Church

How did the Church react to the remains found at the former home for unmarried mothers?

Becky Milligan continues her series about a former home for unmarried mothers in Tuam in the West of Ireland, and the work of amateur historian Catherine Corless. Catherine's discoveries prompted the Irish Government to begin an investigation into mother and baby homes across Ireland.

In Episode Eight Becky tries to find out how the Catholic church responds to the story, and she meets a retired social worker, who served as a nun for 30 years, and a former priest. They describe how "the Church had more power than the State" prior to the 1970鈥檚, and how the priests and nuns saw themselves as the 鈥渕oral guardians of the community鈥hat nobody questioned.鈥

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22 minutes

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