Against a background of ongoing legal matters, Bishop Steve Lowe, the apostolic administrator of the Hamilton Diocese, is accused of not being pastoral enough in his response to a victim of clergy abuse. The Waikato Times reports a woman from within the Hamilton Catholic diocese saying that in a meeting with Lowe, she told him Read more
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests – SNAP NZ – has written to Pope Francis urging him to instruct the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference to initiate an urgent, independent and transparent review of the National Office of Professional Standards and its principles and procedures document, A Path to Healing. SNAP’s unhappy letter to Read more
The Catholic Church’s group dealing with the Royal Commission into State and Faith-Based Care say it is studying a Cabinet paper released by Public Services Minister Chris Hipkins. Hipkins has plans to cut a 3000-strong waiting list of claimants of abuse in state care – such as children’s homes – by making “rapid payments”. Survivors Read more
Two survivor groups are at acrimonious odds over the Dunedin diocese’s commercial agreement for helping abuse survivors. In March, the diocese struck a memorandum of understanding with the Male Survivors of Aotearoa (MSA) support group. The document details the process where abuse survivors are referred to MSA, which in turn will help survivors access counselling Read more
Sir Anand Satyanand’s sudden resignation from the The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry is being seen as a sign of the commission’s dysfunctionality, say survivors. The say they’re losing faith that the Inquiry will uncover the extent of what happened to children in state and church care. Some of them hope Sir Anand Read more
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has established a chapter in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Aotearoa New Zealand chapter, was founded by Dr Christopher Longhurst (pictured), a lecturer in theology at the Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand and survivor of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and brothers. The New Zealand chapter Read more
SNAP founder and director Barbara Blaine has resigned amid claims of collusion and a lawsuit by a former employee. Blaine has not given any reason for her resignation from SNAP – the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests. She founded SNAP three decades ago. In January, Blaine, David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, Read more
Pope Francis has hailed the “courage” shown by United States bishops in facing up to the clergy sex abuse crisis. Speaking to about 400 bishops in Washington, DC, on September 23, the Pope said the bishops had regained the authority and trust which was demanded of them. He also praised the bishops for being ready Read more
A Guam priest who was stripped of his public duties last year, after a decades-old clergy sex abuse allegation resurfaced, has been cleared. Fr John Wadeson “has been reinstated fully to public ministry”, the Archdiocese of Agana stated. Fr Wadeson left the Redemptoris Mater Seminary on Guam in July last year, after serving in Agana Read more
Chicago archdiocese has released about 15,000 pages of previously secret files on clerical sex abuse in order to provide greater transparency. The documents detail interpersonal communications between victims, the priests and archdiocese officials. Making this information public comes after other documents were released in January as part of a settlement with victims. The archdiocese says Read more