Dublin church abuse for more than 3 decades

More Irish bishops 'must quit'

The Catholic church in Ireland has been rocked by the abuse scandal

The remaining Irish bishops named in a report which exposed how Catholic leaders concealed child abuse must resign, a victims group has said.

On Wednesday the Bishop of Kildare said he would stand down, which came after the resignation of the Bishop of Limerick.

Maeve Lewis, chief executive of the One in Four group, said the resignations of three more bishops are "inevitable."

She said they should go quickly to avoid more damage to abuse survivors.

The Murphy report into abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese found that members of the church hierarchy were often more concerned with the reputation of the church than protecting children.

The other senior clerics facing calls to stand down include:

• Martin Drennan - Auxiliary Bishop in Dublin from 1997 to 2005 and currently Bishop of Galway. After the report was published Bishop Drennan said he was comfortable with the findings as it "says nothing negative about me".

• Eamonn Walsh - Auxiliary Bishop in Dublin since 1990. Before that, he was secretary to the Archbishop of Dublin from 1985 and held key positions in the archdiocese for much of the period covered by the Murphy report.

• Ray Field, a qualified barrister and Auxiliary Bishop in Dublin since 1997. He was found not to have fully informed a parish priest about abuse concerns surrounding a colleague.

Power

Ms Lewis said it was "immensely distressing and insulting" to survivors to be forced to listen as "one bishop after another justifies his position and attempts to hold on to power until he is shamed into resigning".

Marie Collins, who was abused by one of the priests named in the Murphy report, said it was not good enough for the bishops to say they not been criticised for personally mishandling a case.

"The point was they were managing the diocese, they were in positions of power in the diocese and they did nothing to stop what was going on.

"Doing nothing was every bit as bad as mishandling something personally."

Meanwhile, the Irish Times has reported conflict between Bishop Eamonn Walsh and the current Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.

Bishop Walsh has sent a letter to priests stating Archbishop Martin had expressed full confidence in his auxiliary bishops following the Murphy report.

However, a spokeswoman for the Archbishop has made it clear that he is still evaluating the report and has not expressed unconditional support for anyone.

Source

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Bishop Donal Murray resignation: Q&A

Irish priest Dr Donal Murray has resigned as Bishop of Limerick.

BBC News Online examines how he came under increasing pressure in recent weeks for the way he dealt with a paedophile priest during his time as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin.

WHO IS HE?

Dr Donal Murray has resigned as Bishop of Limerick

Donal Murray was born in Dublin in 1940. He was ordained in 1966, having gained a doctorate in theology.

After an academic career which included lecturing in University College Dublin on Catechetics and medical ethics, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1982.

At that time, he was the youngest member of the Irish Catholic hierarchy.

He was installed as Bishop of Limerick in March 1996.

WHY HAS HE RESIGNED?

A damning report into child abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy there for a cover up.

The Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, known as the Murphy report, laid bare a culture of concealment where church leaders prioritised the protection of their own institution above that of vulnerable children in their care.

Fr Tom Naughton was behind a litany of sex abuse

It found that during Dr Murray's time as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1982 to 1996, he handled a number of complaints badly.

The report described his failure to investigate one allegation as "inexcusable".

For example, he did not deal properly with the suspicions and concerns that were expressed to him in relation to one priest, Fr Tom Naughton.

When, a short time later, factual evidence of Naughton's abusing emerged in another parish, it found Dr Murray's failure to reinvestigate the earlier suspicions was "inexcusable".

Parents who complained to Dr Murray about Naughton said he dismissed their concerns.

In May 1998, Naughton pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault on three boys. He was jailed for three years, reduced on appeal by six months.

On Wednesday, Naughton, now aged 78, was jailed for three years for abusing an altar boy between 1982 and 1984 in the parish of Valleymount in County Wicklow.

The judge said the "premeditated" abuse was "shocking and horrific". He said Naughton had taken advantage of his position of trust.

WHAT HAVE THOSE INVOLVED IN THE CASE BEEN SAYING?

Mervyn Rundle, who was abused by Naughton, has called for a criminal investigation into Dr Murray's response to the abuse allegations at the time.

"When are the guards (Irish police) going to act against these guys?" he told the Irish Times.

Retired Garda sergeant John Brennan, who sought to have Naughton removed from Valleymount in 1984 following complaints by parents, told the paper: "It was (Naughton's) superiors who, aware of this weakness, sent him around to other places, and I think they shouldn't be allowed at this stage to resign or retire.

"They should be the subject of a criminal investigation. If there is neglect and evidence of a cover-up, it shouldn't be a question of somebody resigning. They should be the subject of a criminal charge."

WHAT HAVE HIS COLLEAGUES BEEN SAYING?

A former doctoral student of Pope Benedict, Father Vincent Twomey, said it was a "scandal" that bishops criticised in the Murphy report had not resigned sooner.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin discussed the report with the Pope

Speaking on Sunday, the theologian, who is still close to the Pope, said delays in resignations were causing damage to the church.

Catholic Primate of all-Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady had stopped short of saying that Dr Murray should resign.

"Bishop Donal Murray has been in contact with me, as you know he is considering his position and hopes to be in a position to comment soon and I'm confident Bishop Donal will do the right thing," he said.

Current Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, told RTE: "If I am unhappy with answers... I don't want to be sitting at meetings with people who have not responded to a very serious situation.

"Everyone should stand up and take responsibility for what they did."

He has said that both Cardinal Brady and he were strongly convinced that the Irish Catholic hierarchy needs to re-establish strong leadership.

Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey said he believed Dr Murray had "serious questions to answer", adding that he believed he would resign if faced with a similar challenge to his "ability to deal with these matters with credibility and integrity".

However, Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe argued that calls for Dr Murray to resign were based on a misreading of the Murphy report and that a "public trial" was taking place, motivated by the desire by some to get "a head on a plate".

WHAT HAS DR MURRAY SAID FOLLOWING THE REPORT'S PUBLICATION?

Dr Murray said he was "acutely aware of the pain and anguish" experienced since the report was published and had begun engaging with the people and priests of his diocese about whether his ministry was a "hindrance or help".

In a letter read out during Masses on the weekend of 28/29 November, he said: "As I look back on that time, I ask myself many questions, especially about the three cases in which the report criticises me.

"At no time did I, as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin, receive an allegation of sexual abuse and fail to act.

"When an allegation of sexual abuse of children by a priest was brought to my attention, I responded promptly and conscientiously and in each case notified the Archbishop and Diocesan authorities and co-operated fully with them.

"I never deliberately or knowingly sought to cover up or withhold information brought to my attention.

"There were, as the report notes, occasions when roles/responsibilities were not clear or where I did not have full information concerning cases in which I was asked to become involved."

IS THE RESIGNATION OF A BISHOP UNPRECEDENTED?

In March, Bishop John Magee, the Newry, County Down-born Catholic Bishop of Cloyne, "stepped aside".

Dr John Magee stepped aside as Bishop of Cloyne in March

Dr Magee faced many calls for resignation for failing to properly address allegations of clerical sex abuse within his County Cork diocese.

Technically, it was not a resignation, although in previous high-profile episcopal departures, there has been no doubt that a resignation was offered to the Pope.

Eamonn Casey resigned as Bishop of Galway in 1992 after an affair with an American divorcee, and Brendan Comiskey, then Bishop of Ferns, presented his resignation to the Vatican in 2002 following claims that he had mishandled allegations of child abuse by Fr Sean Fortune.

Source

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More Info

Murphy_Report

To read about the investigation by the Police in Dublin, click here. Source Here.

1.10 The Commission examined complaints in respect of over 320 children against the 46 priests in the representative sample. Substantially more of the complaints relate to boys – the ratio is 2.3 boys to 1 girl.

1.11 Of the 46 priests examined, 11 pleaded guilty to or were convicted in the criminal courts of sexual assaults on children.

1.12 There is one clear case of a false accusation of child sexual abuse – Fr Ricardus*1 (see Chapter 55). There are two cases where there were suspicions or concerns but no actual complaint of child sexual abuse – Fr Guido* (see Chapter 51) and Fr Magnus* (see Chapter 49).
The priests – where they are now

1.13 Of the 46 priests in the representative sample, 11 are or were members of religious orders. Four of these are dead; four are living within their orders with restrictions on their ministry and activities; two are living within their orders without restrictions and one has become estranged from his order and is living without restriction in another diocese. One priest belongs to a UK diocese and his whereabouts are unknown. Of the 34 priests from the Dublin Archdiocese, ten are dead, 20 are out of ministry and four are in ministry. Of the 20 who are out of ministry, 11 are being financially supported by the Archdiocese and are living under restrictions imposed by Archbishop Martin; nine are laicised.

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Commentary:

The honest truth is this: the belief that people can go their whole lives without a spouse and stay sexually inactive, is a joke and a fallacy of thought.

Celibacy can't even be called historical and from Divine thought because it's not concretely.

2 Facts that prove this:

• 1) Catholics believe Peter was the first pope. This is undisputed, take it up with the pope or your priest if you didn't know this.

• 2) Catholics claim Peter was Celibate. This is not the truth according to the following verse:
• Matthey 8:14: "And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever."

So the first pope was married?

Just show me where in Christianity it says people must be Celibate. The best it says is Celibacy is a gift that is given to certain people and should be honored by them; for those who don't have the gift, get married.

If the best Christians in the world never get married, and never have kids, that only leaves worse and worse Christians with worse and worse thoughts and ideas and perversions to remain.

Celibacy is a joke and is not Divine tradition as people would have you believe. Open up the good book and see for yourself. These scandals are a result of a bad tradition and a corruption of the true Christian beliefs Jesus stood for.

At best mandated Celibacy was ordained by the Catholic church, for whatever purposes they used it for, and it is nothing more than a MAN MADE tradition, not a DIVINE mandate.

The effects of this tradition have been seen here today. Celibacy is therefore immoral and leads to child abuse; something that no religion can condone or stand for. Thus Celibacy should be removed from the Catholic church as a mandate at the very least. Mandated Celibacy is wrong.

Molecules and synapses cement memories, say scientists

Neurons are core components of the brain, transmitting and processing data

US scientists believe they have uncovered one of the mechanisms that enables the brain to form memories.

Synapses - where brain cells connect with each other - have long been known to be the key site of information exchange and storage in the brain.

But researchers say they have now learnt how molecules at the site of the synapse behave to cement a memory.

It is hoped the research, published in Neuron, could aid the development of drugs for diseases like Alzheimer's.

The deteriorating health of the synapses is increasingly thought to be a feature of Alzheimer's, a disease in which short-term memory suffers before long-term recollections are affected.

Scientists have been perplexed for some time as to why, when synapses are strengthened, you have the degradation of proteins going on side by side with the synthesis of new proteins Kenneth Kosik University of California Santa Barbara

A strong synapse is needed for cementing a memory, and this process involves making new proteins. But how exactly the body controls this process has not been clear.

Now scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara say their laboratory work on rats shows the production of proteins needed to cement memories can only happen when the RNA - the collection of molecules that take genetic messages from the nucleus to the rest of the cell - is switched on.

Until it is required, the RNA is paralysed by a "silencing" molecule - which itself contains proteins.

When an external signal comes in - for example when one sees something interesting or has an unusual experience - the silencing molecule fragments and the RNA is released.

This interesting development could give a greater understanding of the memory loss experienced by people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and lead to new treatments Rebecca Wood Alzheimer's Research Trust

Kenneth Kosik of the university's neuroscience research institute said: "One reason why this is interesting is that scientists have been perplexed for some time as to why, when synapses are strengthened, you have the degradation of proteins going on side by side with the synthesis of new proteins.

"So we have now resolved this paradox. We show that protein degradation and synthesis go hand in hand. The degradation permits the synthesis."

Identifying the proteins the brain needs in order to cement the memory could ultimately have benefits for those suffering from memory disorders.

Rebecca Wood, head of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Scientists say they have studied nerve cells in the laboratory and learnt more about how specific proteins may have a role in areas of the brain that transmit messages and help us store memories.

The health of synapses and their activity levels is becoming an important and interesting focus of research Professor Julie Williams

"This interesting development could give a greater understanding of the memory loss experienced by people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and lead to new treatments."

The most recent projections suggest 115 million people across the globe will suffer from dementia by 2050.

Julie Williams, professor of psychological medicine at Cardiff University, said: "Our increasing understanding of genetic risk factors in Alzheimer's is pointing to the synapses so any new study in this area is welcome.

"Alzheimer's is a complicated disease and it is early days, but the health of synapses and their activity levels is becoming an important and interesting focus of research."

Source

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Commentary

This goes along with my theory that I've held since 2008 that proteins are at the central core of every issue we have with the human body. They play a significant role in one way or another and will be integral in treating and curing patients; it's why I signed up for Biotech instead of regular simple molecule Pharma.

To get to the meat of the bones, we basically get everything from proteins because that's the one road route from DNA. DNA goes to mRNA which goes to Proteins, which makes everything else. That being the case, problems lie in 3 areas, the DNA, mRNA, and Proteins.

mRNA has a short lifespan and is enocoded fairly well so it doesn't have many problems and isn't the result of many mistakes. Proteins and DNA, on other hand, that's where we need to start.

We've been pushing DNA to it's wits end and have scientists racking their brain thinking about the connections one gene has with another. Proteins on the other hand haven't been pushed anywhere near as hard and are the workers of everything in our body.

DNA is virtually useless, it can't work, it has no energy to do so, it's just a book. Proteins are the workers, encoded workers with blueprints to the prize that is the Human Body. If you crack them, you crack the engineering of the Human body.

Proteins will become known more and more as time progresses and won't just be thought of as what you intake when you eat beef.

Inquiry confirms CIA had secret jails in Lithuania

Undercut crime: Israel admits illegal organ harvesting

According to Norway and a few reporters, there is still harvesting going on.

The Importance of Economic Equality

By Eben Harrell Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009

Getty

What if there was a way to raise a population's life expectancy and reduce its rates of crime, suicide, teenage pregnancy and mental illness, among other social problems? British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett believe they have found one. In The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, published in the U.S. on Dec. 22, they present data suggesting that almost every indicator of social health in wealthy societies is related to its level of economic equality. (See the data here). Comparing statistics between developed economies and within the U.S., Wilkinson and Pickett argue GDP and overall wealth matter little to wealthy societies. Rather, it is the gap between the rich and poor that is telling. They spoke to TIME about what they believe are revolutionary findings.

You found a very strong correlation between wealth equality and societal well-being. Why had no one spotted it before?
KP: We and other researchers had noticed this trend. But the field was splintered — people looked at only health, or only crime. We've brought it together. Treating the 50 United States as separate countries and then comparing them really strengthened the evidence.

Why does greater income inequality lead to social problems?
RW: In hierarchical societies the quality of social relationships becomes strained, and that can be stressful. Many of the effects we note spring from chronic stress, whether you are talking about obesity or mental health or the sexual development of girls stressed early in childhood.

KP: Humans are highly social beings — we can either behave competitively or we can be cooperative. In more unequal societies, people are more out for themselves. Their involvement in community life drops away, and that’s corrosive.

(See TIME's 2009 Person of the Year coverage.)

Is it just the poor who suffer in unequal societies?
KP: The impact of inequality, although greatest among the poor, does seem to effect people almost all the way up the income ladder. We are not sure about the super-rich. They make up less than 1% of the population, so it's difficult to track.

If you had to pick a U.S. state to live in based on your data, which would it be?
KP: Vermont, with Iowa, New Hampshire or Utah close behind.

RW: Vermont or perhaps New Hampshire. But the point is that at any given level of income, education or occupational level, you are better off in a more-equal state. You will be less likely to have mental illness, and your children will be more likely to avoid drugs or teenage pregnancy, or become victims of violence.

How did you define income equality?
RW: There are many measures. We compared the gap between the richest and poorest 20% of households in each society. You can use more sophisticated indicators like the gini index, but they produce broadly the same answers.

(See the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009.)

So is an emphasis on GDP growth misleading?
RW: Increases in income and economic growth are important in poorer countries where food, shelter and clean water are important. But when it's a matter of getting more cars per household or higher-quality electronics, it doesn't translate to well-being.

How can we achieve more income equality in a market economy?
RW: Some relatively equal societies, such as Japan, and some states such as New Hampshire have smaller differences between earnings before taxes and benefits. The other way is to start off like Sweden does — with large inequalities between earnings — and then redistribute wealth with high taxes and benefits. I think we need to do both. To reduce earning differences you need as many different forms of economic democracy as possible. We need to make it a bit more embarrassing for company directors to give themselves huge pay deals and bonuses while holding down wages elsewhere in their company.

You believe an emphasis on economic equality could help the battle against climate change. How?
RW: The biggest challenge to slowing carbon emissions is consumerism. Consumerism is driven by status competition and is intensified by inequality. Further, more-equal societies are more willing to think about the common good and to be more public-spirited. You can see this in terms of the proportion of waste recycled or the proportion of international development aid given. Both are greater in more-equal countries. In more-equal countries, business leaders are more likely to stress that their governments should abide by international environmental agreements, too.

KP: Since we finished the book, we’ve found that more-equal societies are more innovative in terms of patents granted per capita. This is probably because they develop more human capital. Kids do better in school, and social mobility is higher. We need innovation to tackle climate change.

Source

Higher Incomes, Less Happiness

Posted by Brad Tuttle Monday, December 21, 2009 at 9:50 am

A recently released study by the CDC reveals that people who live in sunny, warm states—Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arizona are the top 5—report the highest levels of satisfaction in their lives. But what I find most interesting is what's going on at the bottom of the list: The states with the least happy people tend to be the ones with the highest median incomes.

Check out the happiness rankings. Here's a snippet from the bottom of the list, which includes the District of Columbia (hence there are 51 entries rather than 50), and which ranks New York dead last:

39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Ohio
44. Massachusetts
45. Illinois
46. California
47. New Jersey
48. Indiana
49. Michigan
50. Connecticut
51. New York

Most people think of a lot of these states as very well-to-do, and they are. According to the Census, the median income throughout the U.S. was $52,175 in 2008. Nine of the bottom 13 states have a higher median income than the U.S. as a whole; of those 13, only the hard-hit industrial states Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are below the national median. Perhaps most interestingly, the three richest states—Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey, all with median incomes above $68K—are all on the "less happy" end of the scale.

There are holes in any theory on happiness: California (#46), for instance, is an obvious sunny-and-warm state where people aren't all that happy, apparently. If sunshine was a prime factor in happiness, you'd think that Washington, Maine, and Alaska would be way down on the list, but they're not (#36, #10, and #12, respectively). And just because people make decent money, it doesn't mean they're unhappy: Hawaii (#2) boasts one of the highest median incomes ($66K). It's all relative to the cost of living, of course, and other factors—like traffic.

An AP story that sums up the rankings quotes one of the academics that poured over the data. Was he surprised that New York and California, where it seems like everyone says they want to live, were among the least happy states?

"I am only a little surprised," he said. "Many people think these states would be marvelous places to live in. The problem is that if too many individuals think that way, they move into those states, and the resulting congestion and house prices make it a non-fulfilling prophecy… We wanted to study whether people's feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality — of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etceteras — in their own state. And they do match."

In other words, too many people can ruin a good thing.

Also, much in the way that you shouldn't assume that homeowners are happier than renters (they're not), you shouldn't assume that people living in high-income areas are happier (they're obviously not). Part of the problem is that some people move to these areas in order to feel rich and successful—like they've "made it"—and yet everywhere they look, there's someone who is richer and more successful than they are.

As a wise man once said, "Mo Money Mo Problems."

Source

The state-by-state list (including Washington, D.C.), from happiest to least cheery:

1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. South Carolina
7. Mississippi
8. Montana
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Wyoming
12. Alaska
13. North Carolina
14. South Dakota
15. Texas
16. Idaho
17. Vermont
18. Arkansas
19. Georgia
20. Utah
21. Oklahoma
22. Delaware
23. Colorado
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. Virginia
28. New Hampshire
29. Wisconsin
30. Oregon
31. Iowa
32. Kansas
33. Nebraska
34. West Virginia
35. Kentucky
36. Washington
37. District of Columbia
38. Missouri
39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Ohio
44. Massachusetts
45. Illinois
46. California
47. New Jersey
48. Indiana
49. Michigan
50. Connecticut
51. New York

Source

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Commentary

Money is not wealth and even wealth does not create happiness. Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the U.S, is number 1. My friend who came back from there speaks of it like heaven and only came back to California because he could not sustain his living and find a solid job.

He says to me often that if he could get job security he would probably move back in a heart beat. What does Louisiana do that other states might not? It restricts modernization and the destruction of natural resources regardless of the economic costs involved.

That means less wealth for it's people in the long run. Does that make them less happy? Apparently it does the exact opposite.

Nature > Wealth ---- something we all should agree on.

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BTW i don't think this story has anything to do with size of the states, as I've bolded the biggest states on the list and they are all popular places to live, yet are widely dispersed.

This index or list probably is most affected by materialism, the most materialistic states to the least. Just a guess, would need more data to make that a solid conclusion.

Inside Story - Corruption and Politics in Pakistan - 21 Dec 09

Corruption is an everyday policy at Pakistan. If you want a $200,000 dollar road job done, you pay double. If you pay what it should cost, you get half the work done, and a poor quality road.

Kickbacks are everywhere and are a part of doing business. Corruption is open in any airport you go to where people will be asked for bribes or not allowed to board planes.

Pakistan will not modernize an inch if this corruption does not end now.

The Brinch Who Swiped Christmas

This video is just speaking on how credit card companies charge the businesses that use credit cards(nearly all business as you can guess).

Then if you miss paying the full payment on your monthly statement they get interest off of your back.

Regardless though even if everyone paid all their credit card debt off on time each month, the companies still make a ton from the business that use Credit card machines and they charge PER SWIPE even swipes that say DENIED.

Also if you pay cash, you can get mad at those of us who pay by credit card because as the video correctly notes, prices inflate to include the charge of the credit card even if you aren't using it.

We should make a FIXED rate for how much credit card companies should charge, and it should be fair and made into law.

Health Insurance Companies Win

There is hope yet. If the reconciliation between the House and Senate bill goes well, it can fix most, if not all, of the problems in the Senate bill.

Reconciliation of those two bills will be our final chance to change the bill. Then there is a final vote in congress, and then finally, if that vote passes, the President gets to sign or veto.

Please Congress, please fix this mess before it gets to the President. If you can't, VOTE THE BILL DEAD! Do that or expect calls from my end every day until it's overturned.

Obama Giving Taxpayer Money For Banker Bonuses

What became of Romania's neglected orphans?

By Chris Rogers BBC News, Romania

Advertisement

BBC secret filming of the conditions in Romanian institutions

A BBC investigation has uncovered appalling conditions and abuse in adult institutions in Romania, 20 years after the fall of Nicolai Ceausescu exposed conditions in the country's orphanages.

As the care worker unlocked the door and pushed it open, a musty stench of body odour and urine filled the air. There were 10 people crammed into the room, bed-bound on rotting mattresses and lying in their own faeces, some two to a bed.

Among the dirty, scarred faces peering above the duvets were the orphans whose plight roused the international community when Romanian orphanages opened their doors to Western journalists in 1990.

Staff at the Recovery and Rehabilitation Centre in Carpenis had no idea how old the latest arrivals from a children's orphanage were - they guessed 18 but they looked much younger.

The three boys cowered under their dirty duvets, escaping from the wrinkled faces of the disturbed men and women they shared a bed with.

The overthrow of Ceausescu shone a light on the plight of the orphans

One of the boys was desperately thin. A worker explained that they didn't know anything about him. He couldn't talk and they suspected he has hepatitis, but they had no means of finding out for sure.

Another new arrival had deep cuts to her head. Like others who have been institutionalised since birth, she exhibits self-harming behaviour, including violent rocking backwards and forwards. She repeatedly banged her head against the wall, and wore a makeshift helmet to cushion the impact.

Notorious institutions

There were dozens of rooms, packed with 160 adults aged up to 80. It was difficult to tell the men and women apart, but they all shared a confined existence. They are all unwanted human beings, abandoned by their impoverished parents at birth and neglected into adulthood by the state.

We came across several institutions where there were cases of human rights abuses Georgiana Pascu, Romanian human rights campaigner

The Romanian government had promised it had dealt with its notorious institutions as part of its conditions for joining the European Union. The only way we could witness the reality of conditions in adult institutions was to pose as charity workers, and secretly film our findings.

The Carpenis institution is just 32km (20 miles) from the capital Bucharest, the heartbeat of the country's growing economy. In the main squares, neon lights advertise the biggest Western brands; shopping centres are bursting with families spending new money on Christmas gifts. It is a measure of how far Romania has come since the fall of its dictator Nicolai Ceausescu who bankrupted the country. But not everyone has seen change in the last 20 years.

In Bolintin, another village close to the capital, a lone nurse and six helpers take care of more than 100 patients - they are not sure exactly how many. They were wrapped in blankets and thermal jackets to escape the freezing cold.

Signs of gangrene were evident at one institution in Bolintin

In a wooden cabin, separate from the main building, we found 15 severely disabled people slumped on uncomfortable chairs. The nurse insisted they were at least 20 years old, but their tiny faces and bodies suggested they were much younger.

Unlike the able-bodied in the main building, they had nothing to escape the cold. Their clothes were thin and tatty and their bare feet produced an odour of rotting flesh. A closer look revealed signs of gangrene.

Low standards

Georgiana Pascu of the Romanian human rights group the Centre for Legal Resources has visited nearly every one of Romania's 150 adult institutions. She says adults in state care face a long list of problems.

Nicolai Ceausescu was executed with his wife Elena on Christmas Day 1989

"There is overcrowding, lack of access to adequate medical treatment, lack of access to psychologists and social workers. We came across several institutions where there were cases of human rights abuses during our visits this year. With a little help, most of them could live in a community environment."

But that help has never come. Again, posing as charity workers, we witnessed some pitiful scenes at the Ganesti Social Medical Unit in eastern Romania.

Staff there told us that there was one carer to 40 residents, and that there were 160 people sharing 140 beds.

Most staff at the institutions we visited were caring and compassionate, but with ratios like this it is little wonder that standards are so low. It was mid-afternoon, and we found most patients still in bed, many showing signs of heavy sedation.

One girl was restrained in her bed by her jumper which acted as a straight jacket.

Human rights activist Eric Rosenthal gives his views on the BBC's secret footage

We showed the findings of our investigation to Eric Rosenthal, who campaigns to protect the human rights of institutionalised people and is an adviser to the US government.

"I cannot say I'm surprised given Romania's record, but I am horrified," he said. "My organisation Mental Disability Rights International documented this abuse in great detail. We talked to government officials, and we brought it to the European Union. They promised they would end these abuses and they have failed on that promise.

"These conditions are exactly what we saw five years ago, 10 years ago. They did what they needed to do to get into the EU, but the abuses are still going on".

Well-cared for

Some institutions, however, have been turned around. The orphanage in Cighid, north-west Romania was one of the institutions that achieved notoriety in 1990.

A young man from the orphanage in Cighid, an institution that has been turned around

At least 137 children died in the space of two years, most of them were no older than three. Foreign aid and the efforts of a new director, Dr Pavel Oarcea, who has now retired, led to many improvements.

Cighid - now an adult institution - was the only facility we got permission to visit as journalists. Around 60 of the children have remained there into adulthood, and they appeared well-cared for.

They had musical instruments, crayons and colouring books. But many have only ever known life in an institution. The disabilities they were either born with or developed as a result of previous neglect in the orphanage meant they were always unlikely to be adopted.

Dr Oarcea defied orders by the local authority not to speak to us. He told us the 15 years he spent in Cighid were the most rewarding of his life, but that he still has regrets.

"A disabled child who's lived with a family his whole life doesn't rock backwards and forwards. What the Cighid children have missed out on is family life, the love that only a family can give," he said.

"Twenty years ago I believed the Romanian government would have made much greater progress in protecting their unwanted children and adults."

Since 1990, Romania has received 100m euros (£89m, $144m) from the EU to improve its institutions.

In response to our investigation, the Romanian government said the conditions we found were not representative of care in the country.

"The Romanian authorities continue the reform and the protection of the disabled with social risk by implementing proactive policies and good practices," it said in a statement.

It added that two of the institutions we visited were scheduled for closure in the next three years.

Source

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Commentary

When a country neglects it's orphans to the point that the international community notices and gives it 100 million euros to change the situation... and still the country neglects its orphans as before; such a country is worth nothing.

If I was Romanian, I wouldn't sleep until every orphanage within a 50 mile radius was safe and secure and investigated by my own eyes. This is atrocious, abominable, and unjust to say the least.

If your hearts feel an ounce of pain Romania, Do something, now.