Waikato Herald NZME Perpetrates Secondary Abuse Against Victims Of Catholic Church Clerical Child Sexual Assault
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa New Zealand has at least four members and their families harmed by the late Catholic Bishop Denis Browne’s coverups for his priests’ sexual violations of children.
But Malisha Kumar of the Waikato Herald thought it was appropriate to publish a one-sided adulatory news report praising Bishop Browne and "celebrating his life” (Waikato Herald, 4 September 2024 03:09 PM).
Then on September 5, after several victims and survivors and their advocates expressed their concerns about Kumar’s report, her colleague Maryana Garcia telephoned SNAP Aotearoa and apologised profusely, and promised to amend Kumar’s unbalanced report to include the victims' and survivors’ voices.
But later that day, Dan Hutchinson, team leader of the Waikato Herald, doubled down on defending Kumar’s report and reneged on Garcia’s promise.
“There is no way to seek any balance from Browne at this stage, to your concerns, so we can't add those to the basic account that is already published,” Hutchinson claimed.
Hutchinson even went so far as to use the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care to dismiss one survivor’s direct disclosure to him of the violent and repetitive clerical child sexual assaults he suffered at the hands of one of Bishop Browne’s priests, Fr. Sebastijan Palich, accused of repetitive and violent sexual assault against a 6-year-old-boy, because the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care did not explicitly name the abuser or the bishop responsible.
“There doesn't seem to be any accusations against Browne of him abusing anyone or covering anything up,” Hutchinson said using his secret Open Justice reporters to justify his claim.
But Hutchinson not only ignored the survivor’s direct disclosure, he also ignored a media release published two days prior to Kumar’s one-sided news report, and he also ignored the Commission’s actual findings that “Catholic Church leaders [Denis Browne being a major one] have not been accountable or transparent to their congregations and the broader community about the nature and extent of abuse and neglect by their members.”
After survivors and advocates reached out to Kumar and Garcia several times, Hutchinson took over all communications.
Kumar never responded to a single complaint. There were at least five. Garcia became uncontactable, not even fulfilling her promise of a follow-up email.
Hutchinson then adopted the exact same tactic used by bishops in response to survivor complaints, silence.
In SNAP's field of work, Kumar, Garcia, and Hutchinson’s conduct is known as secondary abuse.
Are these the kinds of people we want to trust in journalism?
Don't believe Kumar! Believe the survivors!
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New Zealand Catholic Church
Suppresses Abuse Report
Catholic Church leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand have refused to fully disclose an independent report on how they have handled abuse complaints.
Survivors of abuse by Catholic priests say the Church’s refusal to release the independent GCPS assessment report into its complaints process is another coverup.
Earlier this year, at the request of survivors of child sexual assault by Catholic priests in New Zealand, senior clerics of the New Zealand Catholic Church, Bishop Stephen Lowe and Rev. Thomas Rouse, committed to having the Church’s complaints process and compliance with policy independently assessed.
In late July this year, the GCPS assessment report called Te Aromatawai mo nga Paerewa Tiaki Tikanga, An Assessment of the Implementation of the Safeguarding Culture Standards of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand, was given to the church group Te Rōpū Tautoko which coordinated the New Zealand Catholic Church’s response to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.
A summary of the report published on Te Rōpū Tautoko’s website last month revealed serious deficiencies within the Church’s handling of complaints. The deficiencies included the failure of the Church’s Professional Standards Office (NOPS) to adhere to the principles of its complaints protocol “A Path to Healing.”
However, while the Summary stated, “the assessment identified some evidence to support this,” no evidence was provided in that Summary.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is concerned that the Summary also does not indicate how many complaints were denied or upheld. “The fact that many abuse complaints are denied without proper investigations is the very reason why so many complainants reach out to SNAP for support,” said Dr. Christopher Longhurst, National Leader of SNAP's New Zealand chapter.
SNAP requested a copy of the full report with appropriate redactions which they believe the bishops and congregational leaders have an ethical duty to disclose. However, Lowe and Rouse refused to disclose it. Instead, they responded stating, “The summary reports substantially on all aspects of the review.”
But survivors disagree. “A summary which is simply a synopsis does not disclose data findings such as percentages of complaints denied or upheld, or the metadata, or the waiting time to resolve complaints,” explained Dr. Longhurst. “Nor does it provide supporting evidence or reasons that gave rise to the findings,” Longhurst added.
Instead, the bishops put out their own media release praising their reform processes (unspecified) in preventing abuse.
SNAP believes this is yet another failure of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops and Congregational Leaders to honour their public commitment to openness and transparency in how they respond to abuse.
“We challenge the leaders of the New Zealand Catholic Church to practise what they preach, to stop concealing vital information about abuse, and be fully open and transparent on their administrative procedures handling complaints, and release the full GCPS report for public scrutiny,” said Donald McLeish, a Trustee for SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Need for Action - NZ Catholic Bishops are still ignoring survivors and their representatives
For survivor advocates, dialogue is important to bring about change, justice, and healing for many, but actual change, justice, and healing are what matter the most.
While the independent assessment report (GCPS) has called the church leaders to dialogue with survivors, sadly in New Zealand, those church leaders ignore them.
SNAP's leadership has constantly reached out to Catholic Church leaders and has always been met with silence. The hypocrisy of one of the heads of the Mixed Commission responsible for safeguarding, Rev. Thomas Rouse, president of the Congregational Leaders Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand, is seen in the fact that he said “The road towards a sense of truth, of justice, of healing is one we must walk with those who have been abused in our settings". But at the same time, Rev. Rouse ignores the abused when they reach out to him.
Key recommendations for Catholic safeguarding in New Zealand include:
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Increased dialogue with survivors and their representatives
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Regular public reporting on the number of cases reported to Church authorities
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Ensuring documents are more accessible for people from a range of backgrounds
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Seeking to undertake investigations in a more timely manner
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Assessing the Church’s allocation of resources on prevention and on responding to complaints and concerns
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Ensuring safeguarding is embedded in all roles for those working in the Church
However, church leaders are misleading their own congregations and the New Zealand public by quoting from the report, but when it comes to the most important and urgent key recommendation, "Increased dialogue with survivors and their representatives", this gets hidden in the text on their website rather than highlighted in the overview.
Let's hope that when Catholic Church leaders discuss the report in the coming weeks, they will develop a plan for responding properly to the recommendations - including the victims, survivors, and their representatives in their "roadmap" forward.
Barbara Taylor
Survivors Support Director
SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand, 31 July 2024
No ‘Zero Appetite’ For Culture Of Abuse In New Zealand Catholic Church
Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests demand more than Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North John Adams' faith-based assertions that he “believes there has been a culture change” in the Church. (Stuff, July 30)
Bishop Adams knows he has currently at least one priest in ministry under church investigation, contradicting his talk of “zero appetite for abuse”.
At least two Palmerston North senior clergyman accused of sexual assault, one of a child and one of a young man, are still in active ministry and being protected today by Bishop Adams.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa regards the Bishop's attempts at marketing a new and improved Catholic Church as mere spin.
As the Government has been told this week in regard to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s Final Report, apologies are meaningless unless they are backed up by actions.
For instance, Adams’ comment that “every Catholic parish in New Zealand had material about safeguarding” is undermined by the fact that only one Catholic parish in his diocese has a sign displaying information where survivors or their whānau can receive independent support.
It’s understandable that the Bishop would want to draw attention away from the Royal Commission’s finding that “Catholic Church leaders have not been accountable or transparent to their congregations and the broader community about the nature and extent of abuse and neglect by their members” (Survivors’ experiences of abuse and neglect in faith-based care, para.199).
Further, Adams’ claim that his professional standards office has “an independent complaint process” was debunked by the Commission’s Interim Report Tāwharautia: Pūrongo o te Wā, December 2020. So why would Adams repeat that falsehood today?
Frankly, the Bishop’s hypocrisy is galling when he says “Some people in the past had been motivated to protect the church” while he goes about that very thing himself.
If you want the truth, listen to the survivors and believe the Royal Commission’s report, not the Bishop's smokescreen.
Support Survivors! Protect Children! Protect the vulnerable! Heal the wounded! Expose the truth!
Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
Page 34:
"Some churches have undertaken their own exercises to understand the extent of the abuse within their own faith. For example, Te Rōpū Tautoko (Catholic) as part of its Information Gathering Project, analysed information provided by Catholic entities. From 1950 to 2022, it found a total of 7,807 diocesan clergy and religious present in Aotearoa New Zealand, and a total of 1,680 reports of alleged abuse held by church entities. These reports of abuse were made against 1,122 individual clergy members – 14.4 percent of the total number from 1950 to 2022."
"The Inquiry heard from more than 800 survivors who had experienced abuse and neglect while in the care of faith-based institutions.85 Analysis of accounts from survivors of faith-based care showed that the abuse types most commonly experienced varied between different groups. Sexual abuse was the most commonly experienced type in this setting (48 percent), followed by emotional abuse (40 percent) and physical abuse (38 percent)."
"Sexual abuse was found to be more prevalent in faith-based settings as opposed to State settings, in particular at Dilworth School (Anglican) and Marylands School (Catholic).87 In addition, more than half of survivors who provided evidence to the Inquiry after going through a Catholic institutional setting were sexually abused."
"Dr Christopher Longhurst, a survivor who was 11 years old when he started at a private intermediate school (Catholic), shared his experience with the Inquiry: “I do not identify as a victim. I am a person who has survived clerical child sexual abuse and other kinds of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and members of the clergy, including bishops, and I am proud to have survived that abuse.”"
Church Redress Further Fails Abuse Survivors. Complainant In Pastoral Healing Process Receives Letter From Church Lawyer
24 June 2024
[...] SNAP reports that one APTH complainant recently received a letter from a lawyer instructed by both NSPSC and NOPS threatening to “discontinue the inquiry into your complaints,” after the complainant questioned NOPS’s handling of the investigative process.
The complainant claimed, “investigators were prevented by NOPS from gathering the evidence and making the necessary inquiries.”
Read here the full article.
Greater Accountability for Church Leaders is needed
It was 07 July 2014, almost exactly 10 years ago, when Pope Francis first met with survivors of sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy. Pope Francis had been pope for just over a year and much hope was put in him.
After spending more than three hours with six survivors, Pope Francis vowed “not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not,” and declared that bishops would be held accountable for protecting minors. He said the abuse scandals had had “a toxic effect on faith and hope in God.”
One of the selected survivors who spoke with Pope Francis on that day had told him that “the church needed greater accountability, and that she would not feel as though progress had been made until bishops who covered up the abuse had been removed.”
Pope Francis’ meeting with the survivors and his strong words were certainly a shock for some Catholics who believed that all accusations against clergy and religious had been a witch hunt. However, for survivors and their families it had been a sign of hope.
What has happened since? Did Pope Francis believe he could sweep the Church clean of a few perpetrators?
The scandals are mounting. The doubts of proper investigations by Vatican officials are strong.
How long will it take the hierarchy to really address the issues and stop the cover-up and instead actively clean up the current mess, and give victims, survivors and their families the dignity of being believed and supported by the institution that had failed them – even if it is decades later…
Read more about the hopes from 2014, including comments from SNAP member Mary Caplan, who was interviewed at the time.
Here is a video that was created then - certainly in the hope that survivors would finally be heard and believed.
How do we feel now, 10 years later, when we read about NZ Cardinal Dew, accused of child sexual assault, who can resume public Church activities after Vatican investigations that were allegedly carried out - without even listening to the alleged survivors?
Barbara Taylor
Survivors Support Director
SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand
Troubling Vatican Investigation Into Cardinal John Dew Abuse Allegations –
“There Were No Inquiries” Report Survivors
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa New Zealand, is concerned that no inquiries were made by Vatican officials into child sexual assault allegations against Cardinal John Dew.
“This is just another case of the Church claiming it conducted an investigation,” reports SNAP Aotearoa spokesperson Donald McLeish.
Given that no details are known about the Vatican’s presumed investigation, and neither the complainants themselves nor any other key persons outside the church were ever contacted, it is questionable that any investigation actually occurred.
SNAP believes the Vatican may have simply accepted the Police’s current position and aligned its viewpoint accordingly.
SNAP holds that a major part of the evidence is the complainants' testimony and life experience, and that Church standards must supplement those of civil law enforcement.
SNAP is aware that the Police investigation remains open at this time, as it is not uncommon in cases of historical child sexual abuse that there is insufficient evidence at first to lay charges. Often more evidence comes to light over time as other victims find the courage to come forward.
SNAP is also aware of another police report in which Cardinal Dew is named as having committed psychological abuse of vulnerable people in the Catholic Church.
Contrary to earlier claims made by the Cardinal—that priests at St. Joseph’s presbytery did not go to the nearby St. Joseph’s Orphanage, SNAP members have reported seeing priests at the orphanage. There was even a priest's office at the orphanage, which is now believed to be a place where the alleged offending occurred.
SNAP is aware that the Carvell complaint involved three priests and a nun. While one priest is dead, the third priest named in the Carvell report has avoided public scrutiny. Yet he is accused of the same crimes as the Cardinal and is subject to the same safeguarding protocols. But he was not stood down by his bishop, John Adams.
According to SNAP, secrecy, silence, and concealment around church investigations into allegations of priests sexually violating children fuels the church’s coverup, leaves society questioning church leaders’ motives, and further harms the survivors. “We no longer live in a time when it is appropriate to be secretive about dealing with clergy child sexual abuse complaints,” reports SNAP in response to the Vatican’s investigation.
SNAP Aotearoa calls for more transparency, accountability, and a survivor-centred response.
As an independent network, SNAP continues to support all survivors of faith-based and institutional abuse.
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To contact SNAP about this release call +64 (0)223440496 or email Aotearoa-newzealand@snapnetwork.org
