In a letter dated May 3 and addressed to his "dear brothers and sisters in Christ", Bishop Dooley said that he was looking forward to returning after his time away "with new energy and focus". Continue reading

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 and other services.

The commercial deal includes funding from the diocese.

However, Dr Christopher Longhurst (pictured), founder of the newly established New Zealand branch of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), wants more transparency over the agreement.

Last week he contacted the ODT expressing his concern the signatories were not prepared to make public a copy of the document, saying SNAP wants to use a copy as a template for its agreements.

Longhurst said he emailed Bishop Michael Dooley in July, but MSA replied declining to release the confidential document.

Longhurst again emailed Dooley in September asking him to "desist" from signing the confidential agreements, arguing that in the past secrecy had harmed victims.

Describing itself as New Zealand's recognised national organisation for male survivors of sexual violence, MSA says it supports more than 1500 survivors across the country and more than 40 in Dunedin.

MSA trustee Tony Chamberlain calls the requests "totally disrespectful and completely inappropriate".

"We consider the letter (email) a totally offensive affront to the integrity of all concerned", Chamberlain wrote to SNAP international chief executive, Zach Hiner.

Longhurst maintains the Diocese's approach is wrong, but stresses his opinion is not a personal attack on Dooley.

Longhurst is a survivor and lecturer at the Wellington based NZ Catholic Bishop's Catholic Institute.

"The issue is very clear. It's wrong for any peer support group to get into confidential agreements with the Catholic Church - absolutely wrong", Longhurst told the ODT.

However MSA Chairman, Philip Chapman defended the agreement and Dooley.

He says the existence of the agreement is not confidential and that Dooley had been totally supportive and clearly concerned for survivors.

Chapman acknowledged the modest financial contribution from the Church.

He said the funding was invested directly in the support services for the referred survivors.

Contacted in Rome, Dooley indicated his happiness with the document.

"This is an agreement between our two organisations with the good of survivors the priority", he told the ODT.

At the time he started SNAP NZ, Longhurst told CathNews that all it takes to heal is a little support.

"None of our members are experts. We're just survivors helping survivors", he said.

Sources

• ODT
• CathNews
• Image: TCI

Speakers included Virginia Noonan, director of the Catholic Church in New Zealand's National Office of Professional Standards which handles sexual abuse complaints involving clergy.

Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust chairman Phillip Chapman also spoke.

Bishop of Dunedin Michael Dooley said it was a chance for priests to receive a refresher on safeguarding protocols designed to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Priests were also briefed on a new, streamlined code of conduct which spelled out behavioural expectations "and the consequences if it's not done" which included dismissal, he said.

The code included a requirement for all allegations to be taken "seriously" and reported in line with church protocols.

The one-page document covered all volunteers and employees within the Catholic Church, he said.

Police vetting and psychological tests already required of those wanting to enter a seminary were also being extended to other parts of the church, he said.

Dooley said priests across the diocese were "feeling the crisis" facing the church, as the extent of historic sexual abuse by clergy was revealed within the Dunedin diocese, in other parts of New Zealand and internationally.

Media publicity helped encourage victims to come forward, but there was still room for priests within the diocese to upskill in "what they do practically," he said.

The gathering also reflected developments in the Vatican, where Pope Francis has just completed a month-long Synod on Youth which included discussion of the church's child abuse scandal.

Source

• odt.co.nz
• Image: odt.co.nz

Over 1000 people are expected to attend including clergy, the Vatican's diplomatic representative, the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Martin Krebs, civic leaders and other Church leaders.

The ordination will be followed on Friday morning with the Installation Mass at 9.30am in St Joseph's Cathedral.

This Mass marks the reception of the bishop in the cathedral church of the diocese, at which he will preside for the first time with the priests and members of the diocese.

The President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC), Bishop Patrick Dunn, expressed the joy of the Conference and the New Zealand Catholic community on the ordination.

"We welcome wholeheartedly Bishop Michael Dooley. Thursday, 26 April 2018 will be an important day for our new bishop and for everyone in the Dunedin diocese. We pray for Bishop Michael as he prepares for his ministry among us."

Colin Campbell, the current Bishop of Dunedin, said of the appointment "We feel most blessed to be able to welcome bishop-elect Michael into this role, and know his extensive knowledge of and work in this diocese will be welcome and gratefully appreciated.

"I have been blessed with Michael as my vicar-general and in the last eighteen months, taking on the role of financial administrator he has done a sterling job with this portfolio in the diocese. We are all truly blessed by Pope Francis' choice of Michael as the seventh bishop of the Dunedin Diocese."

Michael Dooley was born in Invercargill in 1961 to parents Joseph Dooley and Mary Hogan.

He was educated at Heddon Bush Primary School and Central Southland College.

Before entering Holy Cross College in 1984, Dooley completed an engineering apprenticeship as a fitter and turner.

He has Bachelor of Theology degree from Otago University and a Masters from Melbourne's College of Divinity.

Dooley was ordained on 13 December 1989. From 1995, he has served as a member of the Priests Council and was a Parish Priest for over 10 years in Southland and Otago.

His other roles have included: