Ireland: the Rosminians' own Rome archive names seven sexual abusers at Upton across three decades — 'the Order did not expel members for sexual abuse' and none were ever reported as a crime

Proceedings

1. 1954-01-01 · official findings, internal Church correspondence and canonical dispensations only — the Commission's own numbered conclusions state the Order knew the conduct was criminal and did not report it

   Ireland — Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Ryan Report, 2009), Vol. 2 ch. 2. The Commission examined the Rosminian Order's own 'Rome files' — internal correspondence between the Provincial in Ireland and the Superior General in Rome — covering sexual abuse at Upton across roughly three decades. Fr Santino was transferred repeatedly within England specifically, in the Commission's words, 'for the purpose of obviating investigation', then moved to Ireland (Mount Melleray, then Upton) for the same reason; the Commission states his conduct in England 'was criminal' and that assigning him to Upton was 'irresponsible and reckless'. Br Umberto was quietly moved to Kilmurry after 'not being discreet cum pueris' (with boys). Br Constantin was removed after the Rector had 'proof that, in two cases at least, he had sinned with boys'; two witnesses (Br Alfonso and Fr Giovani) independently corroborated the discovery, alongside a second Brother, Br Fausto, found abusing at the same time. Br Fausto's abuse was flagged in correspondence from the mid-1930s to mid-1950s, with a Rome letter stating 'there is more than one victim' and advising the Provincial to 'find a good excuse for sending Fausto away'. Br Mateo was transferred after a documented incident, described internally as a 'slip'; a complainant's account of the abuse was accepted outright by the Rosminians' own counsel at the Commission hearing. Br Mario was moved after the Provincial wrote to Rome that 'the changes made are a cover up in some respects'; he was later sent to a Rosminian school for blind children, which the Commission calls 'reckless and inexplicable', and remained there until his death. Br Gilberto was induced to seek a dispensation after a 'painful' episode at Upton; his own petition stated 'I have been condemned without being informed of the nature of the charge against me.' In direct evidence, Br Alfonso told the Committee that as Prefect he identified seven sexual abusers operating in Upton — Br Fausto, Br Constantin, a named night watchman, an unnamed lay teacher, Br Mateo, Br Mario, and Br Gilberto — all of whom were 'removed from the School', none referred to police. The Commission's own numbered general conclusions for this section state: 'The Order was aware of the criminal nature of the conduct, but did not report it as a crime' and 'The Order did not expel members for sexual abuse,' further finding that for periods of years in the 1950s at least three abusers were present in Upton simultaneously, and in two separate years at least four.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• a Rome archive that used deliberately vague, coded Latin phrasing ('cum pueris', 'periculum', 'indiscreet') specifically so that the reason for each transfer would not become known, which the Commission found also prevented the new institution from being warned
• transfer without dismissal used as the standing remedy for a documented pattern of at least seven identified abusers over roughly three decades
• one abuser, Fr Santino, moved between English parishes and then out of the United Kingdom into an Irish monastery for the explicit purpose (per the Commission) of avoiding a police investigation into conduct it calls 'criminal'