In this photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone announces the forensic excavation of the site of a former mother and baby's home in Tuam, at Government Buildings in Dublin. Ireland's government has approved a forensic excavation of a Catholic-run orphanage where a mass grave containing the remains of hundreds of children was discovered. The excavation follows a report from a judge-led commission that confirmed underground chambers at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, contained "significant quantities of human remains." (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone announces the forensic excavation of the site of a former mother and baby's home in Tuam, at Government Buildings in Dublin. Ireland's government has approved a forensic excavation of a Catholic-run orphanage where a mass grave containing the remains of hundreds of children was discovered. The excavation follows a report from a judge-led commission that confirmed underground chambers at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, contained "significant quantities of human remains." (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s government has approved a forensic excavation of a Catholic-run orphanage where a mass grave containing the remains of hundreds of children was discovered.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone announced Tuesday the excavation and recovery of remains. There will be a respectful burial where possible, she said.

The excavation, which will begin after legislation is passed, follows a report from a judge-led commission that confirmed last year that the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, had an underground sewage structure divided into 20 chambers containing “significant quantities of human remains.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Church-run homes in Ireland housed orphans, unmarried pregnant women and their babies for most of the 20th century. The institutions have been subject to intense public scrutiny since a local historian in 2014 tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who had died as residents of the facility — but could find a burial record for only one child.

Investigators later found a mass grave containing remains of babies and young children from 35 weeks to 3-years-old on the grounds of the home, which closed in 1961.

Zappone raised the mass grave scandal with Pope Francis when he visited Ireland in August, calling it a “shameful chapter of recent Irish history.” The pope urged the Irish church to make reparations to the home’s survivors for its role.