A child abuse survivors’ group has told Pope Francis the Catholic Church in New Zealand is mishandling the abuse redress process.
They are being retraumatised during the process, Aotearoa-New Zealand’s chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) told Francis in a letter last week.
SNAP, a global organisation, went on to accuse New Zealand Church officials of breaching procedures for managing abuse complaints.
“Most sadly, we are being harmed by the very Church office set up to provide healing,” says Christopher Longhurst, SNAPs national leader.
His complaints to the Pope focus on the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) – the New Zealand Bishops’-appointed group tasked with administering Te Houhanga Rongo (A Path To Healing) redress process.
Longhurst told Francis New Zealand’s apparent “open hand to the hope of healing” isn’t the view victims see.
In reality, they are traumatised for a second time by NOPS officials violating the established procedures, he says.
He describes these violations as a denial of adequate investigative process; a denial of fair review of process; stalling and divergence; and a general lack of compassion.
“Given the lack of an authentic and honest path to healing in New Zealand’s Catholic Church, we would like to ask for Your Holiness to intervene,” Longhurst wrote.
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZBC) says it is continually updating and improving its complaints and disclosure processes to help survivors of abuse.
Catholic Church leaders have listened to survivors throughout the current Royal Commission of inquiry into abuse hearings and have implemented changes, the NZBC says.
We will continue to engage actively on improvements throughout and beyond the Royal Commission’s scheduled completion in 2023, Bishop Stephen Lowe told media.
A total of 1,680 reports of alleged abuse by church entities from 1950 to 2021 met the Royal Commission’s definition of abuse, a report https://www.catholic.org.nz/assets/Uploads/20220201-Tautoko-IGP-Fact-Sheet-1-Feb.pdf prepared for the Royal Commission says.
So far, about 470 child abuse survivors have been paid $16.8 million in pastoral or ex-gratia payments by New Zealand Catholic Church entities.
More could be done though, say critics.
Sonja Cooper, Principal Lawyer and Partner at Wellington-based Cooper Legal, which is currently handling over 2,000 cases of child abuse victims involving state and faith-based institutions, says she hasn’t seen any changes in the way the redress process is run.
“It’s not a process that exercises any natural justice. And if they can find anything to make a decision that is against the survivor, they will.”
Using ex-police officers for the interview process was deeply problematic for many survivors, she says.
“The Church seems to be operating from a position of not believing and the burden is put on the survivor to prove that they are telling the truth. The process is very geared towards protecting the Catholic Church and its clergy.”
An interim report from the Royal Commission inquiry notes no redress process audit has been carried out yet.
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News category: New Zealand.
