by Countess Sigrid von Galen
Foreword: Many victims of Croome Court were not heard or only insufficiently assisted and in the end let down by various inquiries, safeguarding teams and church hierarchy, as we heard already by Rafael Viola in our first Exclusive of 'Hear their Voices'.
The papal nuncio, the Pope himself, cardinals, arch/bishops, nuns and clergy failed them entirely except for non-committal broken promises and empty words. It is appalling that many victims were not looked after appropriately even and especially by the IICSA. They had to face a huge group of clergy, lawyers of the churches, bishops and officials in the same room, who either ignored the survivors or intimidated them by their sheer arrogance. Some survivors were not even able to get home again after a long triggering inquiry session and relied on the kindness of other survivors to offer them to share a room and get them food, whilst lawyers and clergy were paid fees and rooms. The Institute for Criminology and Justice Blog wants to make the testimonies of survivors heard. Here is our second story, the late John Lamb's own testimony, whose widow Pam kindly gave us permission to publish his statement.
John Lamb was not only abused by the nuns and the resident priest, Father Edwards. He also witnessed the abuse of another boy from a different dormitory, who escaped the nuns but was accordingly to John's testimony probably murdered by them, as he witnessed the nuns in a group with torches digging.
He never saw the boy again...
In this series with more to come we want to make the patterns of organised abuse and other church criminality and their cover ups and the Omertà culture visible that comes with it. The accounts of John Lamb's and Rafael Viola's experiences are heartbreaking and triggering for many survivors - so, take your time and if you can, spread the testimony. Every voice counts! Be the next one to amplify their voices! Together we can make it even more heard! Thank you for listening! Countess Sigrid von Galen
EXCLUSIVE: The Story of John Lamb, R.I.P.
More on Croome Court Abuse:
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/7718/view/INQ002955.pdf Hear their Voices - A Series about Abuse in the Churches: Exclusive: Rafael V.'s Story, by Countess Sigrid von Galen
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-sunday-telegraph/20181216/281994673587136 https://www.itv.com/news/central/2018-11-13/survivors-accuse-catholic-church-and-police-of-covering-up-decades-of-child-sexual-abuse
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