Children of sin: Quebec and Irish orphans share stories of abuse under care of Catholic Church

In a tucked-away officeat Montreal's Concordia University, a video conference connects two groups of survivors separated by an oceanbut linked by their so-called "illegitimate" births Quebec's DuplessisOrphansand the survivors of Ireland'sMother and Baby Homes.

One by one, they introducethemselves, starting with their names and where they were born: Mount Providence orphanage in Montreal, Saint Patrick's Home in Dublin, Baie-Saint-Paulorphanage in Quebec.

Communication is slow and halting; the Quebecers speak French, the Irish, English.Some never learned to read or write.

Butwhen survivors hear the familiar story even in a foreign languagethey nod along.

When you [are] abastard ... you will be the dirt of society.- Nestor

On both sides of the ocean, children born to women out of wedlock were abandoned to institutions run by the Catholic Church, in many cases falsely labelled as mentally deficientand abused sexually and physically for years.

"When you [are] a bastard [it's like] being born into a garbage can," says Quebecer Louis-JosephHbert, orNestor,as he prefers to be called.

"You never have a happy life. Nobody will know you. You will be the dirt of the society."

He says the nuns gave him the surname Hbert, just like every other baby born in the same month as he was.

Nestor wishes he could cry about the abuse that he suffered and witnessed during his childhood, but he can't.

"I have trouble to cry when I have a big emotion. [I would be] so happy if I could cry."

When he cried as a child, he says, the nuns beat him.

Even as an adult, it's something he can't shake.

Nestorand his fellow Quebec survivors were born in or turned over to Catholic-run institutionsin the 1940s and 50s. They lived out their childhood and in many cases, their early adult years as well in orphanages-turned-psychiatric institutions.

They were labelled as psychiatricpatientsas part of a plan by then-premier MauriceDuplessisto obtainfederal subsidies.

We never did nothing wrong to God.- Nestor

As the Duplessis Orphansshared those stories duringThursday's video conference, the Dublin survivors chimed in with similar anecdotes.

Theypointed tobirth records and medical documents that declared themmentally deficient.

• Mass grave at former Irish Catholic home for mothers and babies confirmed by investigators

The parallels are striking both groups have stories of physicaland sexual abuse, being forced to take medication and to performhard labour as children all because, as they put it, the Church regardedthem as "children of sin."

• CBC Digital Archives: The Duplessis Orphans

They paid the price, says Nestor.

"We never did nothing wrong to God," he protests."Ididn't even know Him. My eyesweren't even open, I was in the stomach of my mother."

The Catholic Church has never offered a specific apology to the DuplessisOrphans.

In 2001, then-Quebec premierBernard Landry offeredcompensation and apologized for the "sombre episode in our history."

• Duplessis orphans accept Quebec's final offer

In 2006, the Quebec government announced it would pay a further $26 million in compensation.

Survivors were required to sign a waiver declaring that, in exchange, they would not take legal action against the Catholic Church.

Canadian composer connectsthe dots

It was Canadian composerAlyssaRyverswho helped connect theDuplessisOrphans to some of the Irish survivors.

She'd worked with the Quebec survivors for years, using music to share their stories.

While working in Ireland in March onan unrelated project, she happened to glance at a newspaper headlineabout the discovery of a mass grave of babies and children inTuam, CountyGalwayIreland.

The burialsite was foundat a former Catholic care home.

I don't think it's the end of it.- Alyssa Ryvers, Canadian composer

"Ithought to myself, 'Oh my God, this sounds a lot like what happened here,'"Ryverssaid.

She managed to meeta group of adults who'dlived through the Irish care-homes experience,and she was struck by how their stories echoed those of the Duplessis Orphans.

"Sitting around those survivors, it was the weirdest thing....There was just this sort of sameness," she says.

Ryvers hopes the first conversation between the two groups leads to something bigger.

"Itseems clear that there were some parallels, and we could try to get to the bottom of why those parallels may or may not exist."

"It's going to be interesting to see how things unfold in the next while. I don't think it's the end of it," she says.