Abuse victims: Pope should meet us in Scotland to explain and apologise

Abuse victim Colin Higgins (Pic: Paul Reid)

Scots abused in institutions run by the Catholic church have urged the Pope to meet them when he visits Scotland later this year.

The leader of the church is expected to visit during Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow in November when victims abused by monks and priests have requested a meeting. They believe Pope Francis should explain why they have waited so long for justice and an acknowledgement of their suffering.

In 2019, Glasgow University research into abuse in the Catholic Church between 1943 and 2005 found 59 complaints against priests. The majority of complaints were sexual, but they also included some physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

More than 320 complaints involving monks, nuns and religious orders were also found. Since 2006, when the church began compiling annual figures, 67 priests have been accused of abuse.

Brothers Robert and Arthur McEwan were attacked after being sent to St Ninian’s List D School in Stirlingshire for stealing 25p lunch money. Their abuser, De La Salle monk Michael Murphy, who was known as Brother Benedict, was jailed in 2003 for abusing nine boys there. Despite his conviction, his victims’ legal fight for compensation has been tortuous.

Pope Francis, who described child abuse as “psychological murder”, has met abuse victims in other countries and changed church laws to make not reporting it an offence.

The brothers and other victims spoke out after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry described a Catholic boarding school in the Highlands as a “haven for paedophiles”. The inquiry had heard evidence of physical, emotional and sexual abuse over many years at Fort Augustus Abbey, which closed in 1993.

The victims

Robert McEwan, 70, from Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, said: “If the Pope is sincere, he should meet us when he comes to Scotland and explain why Scotland appears to be one of the only countries in the world where abusers have been jailed but victims have been met with decades of court wrangling instead of justice.

“The orders involved know perfectly well they are continuing to abuse us by forcing us to continually fight through the courts. Their behaviour is beyond shameful.”

His brother, Arthur McEwan, 68, said: “We want to meet the Pope to ask him why his words are being ignored in Scotland. We weren’t just beaten, abused and traumatised, we were brutalised, denied a proper education and left so badly damaged we didn’t stand a chance in life. Everything was taken from us.”

He became the first Scottish victim to be awarded £50,000 in July 2004. Just a few months later, three victims of a monk from the same order in the US were awarded £4 million.

He said: “I was elated that a court had finally acknowledged the sickening abuse I endured. But, instead of the De La Salle order doing the right thing and paying the compensation for what happened, we were told my abuser had taken a vow of poverty and, as the court action was against him, I never saw a single penny.”

Pope Francis during his general audience at the Vatican last week

Brother Benedict, real name Michael Murphy, retired as a monk and spent years living comfortably at the order’s headquarters in Oxford while Arthur suffered breakdowns and post-traumatic stress disorder as he struggled to cope with what was done to him.

In 2003 Murphy was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of abusing the brothers but had his two-year jail sentence cut to 12 months. Murphy also abused children in the 1970s and 1980s when he worked at St Joseph’s School in Tranent, East Lothian.

He was jailed for seven years in April 2016 at the High Court in Edinburgh after being found guilty of physically and sexually abusing eight boys there.

Another abuse victim at a De La Salle school agreed Pope Francis should now meet victims. Colin Higgins, 72, from Dundee, has never spoken publicly about the years of abuse he claims he suffered at St Mary’s, Bishopbriggs, where he was sent aged 13 for playing truant. The father of one has been fighting for justice for 30 years for the daily beatings and lack of education that shaped his life.

He said: “My punishment was to be brutalised by beatings that would have brought an adult to their knees. We weren’t taught or helped. We were tortured.

“When I came out of St Mary’s two years later, the beatings and bruises had healed. The deepest scars they inflicted couldn’t be seen, but I’ll suffer them to my grave.

“We never stood a chance. If His Holiness can come to Scotland to talk about climate change, I hope he will agree to meet us to talk about why our suffering has been met with silence and the contempt of indifference.”

His lawyer, Cameron Fyfe, said it was cruel to continue denying victims justice. He said: “Forcing victims through 30 years of litigation has left them continually reliving the trauma they suffered. It’s shameful the men who remain are left wondering whether they will still be here to see their cases settled.”

Lawyer for Colin Higgins, Michael McLean of Jones Whyte, said: “It is clear from our investigations that many victims suffered abhorrent abuse at the hands of members of the De La Salle order while St Mary’s School. We urge them to engage with us and to compensate our clients fully, as quickly as is possible.”

Alan Draper, a former adviser to the Catholic Church in Scotland on child abuse issues, also called on the Pope to meet the men. He said: “The Pope’s visit will be a short one, but if he agreed to meet these survivors it would be a hugely significant moment.”

Frank Hughes, solicitor for the De La Salle order said: “As matters are still before the Scottish courts it would be inappropriate for our clients to comment before the conclusion of proceedings.”