Child Trafficking Survivors Sue Catholic Religious Orders

Two Australian-based Catholic religious orders, the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Order of the Sisters of Mercy, have found themselves on the potentially-expensive end of a lawsuit for alleged child trafficking which took place over 50 years ago. The suit was brought by three Maltese citizens, who claim that the religious orders brought them to Australia as children under the pretense of being educated. However, they claim that instead of being sent to school, their documents were confiscated and they were forced to work for and sexually abused by the Brothers. To make matters even worse, these three survivors claim to be only a tiny fraction of hundreds of children subjected to the same fate.

The lawsuit claims that the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Order of the Sisters of Mercy targeted poor families in Britain and Malta, asking for their children and promising to educate the kids in Australia. In reality, the Brothers and Sisters were supposed to be finding orphans in need of an education. For this orphan education program, they received funding from the British, Australian, and Maltese governments. The money was intended to go toward the children’s housing, food, and education expenses.

However, according to plaintiff Emmanuel Ellul, the orders kept the money for themselves. They then forced the children to work on the commercial farms controlled by the Brothers, without pay and with frequent beatings. To feed themselves, the children were reduced to begging for food on the street and foraging in the pig troughs on the farm. In addition to the forced labor, several of the children were abused and raped by the Brothers.

Over 10,000 children immigrated from Britain to Australia between 1947 and 1967, the years during which this child trafficking scam operated. It's estimated that at least 300 of those children were victims of forced labor once they arrived in Australia. In 2001, the Australian government acknowledged the complaints of the "working boys," as the child victims of this scam eventually came to be called. They apologized for the abuses, and admitted that many of the children brought to Australia during this time were not orphans, but children lured or stolen from their families. And now that the survivors are all adults, some in their 60s, they are finally seeking justice for their stolen childhoods via a lawsuit.

Many human trafficking scams rely on the idea of building trust to lure a victim away from protection, and using the front of a religious organization is a powerful and despicable way to do that. What poor family wouldn't trust a group of Catholic sisters offering to educate their child? Isn't that what nuns do?

Perhaps it's because I was raised in the Catholic Church, but I find this story incites a rare and balanced blend of heartbreak and anger. How on earth could this have been allowed to continue for 20 years? I know the Catholic Church is no stranger to scandal -- especially as regards the sexual abuse of young boys -- but couple that with the forced labor, the beatings, the lies to impoverished families, and the blatant racketeering. It's an additional layer of abhorrence that goes a step beyond usual evil.

Perhaps this lawsuit will help the survivors find justice, the Catholic Church and government of Australia accept responsibility, and the families who lost children experience closure. Perhaps it won't. But if nothing else, I hope it helps children today stay safe, as we all realize that even a wolf in nun's clothing is still a wolf.

Photo credit: juglar de zipa