More than 95 delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America gathered in Brisbane this month for the 57th Annual Canon Law Conference where they discussed key challenges and developments in canon law. Hosted by the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand, the four-day event aimed to equip attendees with tools to Read more
Abuse in church contexts “has been a widespread problem” that is now being dealt with, according to Professor David Tombs, the Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago. It’s been prevalent in the Catholic Church, in other churches and within wider society, he says. Tomb’s view is shared by Read more
A New Zealand-based theologian and academic says the vow of obedience religious people make needs redefining. Dr Rocio Figueroa made the comment after Pope Francis urged religious and consecrated women “to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude, Read more
Little is being done to target the spiritual abuse that allows the clerical sex scandals to happen says theologian Dr Rocio Figueroa. Figueroa is a lecturer in Systematic Theology at the Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand in Auckland. To understand the underlying causes of abuse the Church needs to rethink its ts power structure Read more
A study published earlier this month by two theologians resident in New Zealand suggests that Jesus himself was a victim of sexual abuse. Dr Rocio Figueroa Alvear is a Peruvian theologian currently lecturing in systematic theology at Good Shepherd College in Auckland and an external researcher at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at Otago Read more
Rocio Figueroa Alvear is a theologian, an abuse survivor and a consecrated woman-turned-whistle-blower on scandals in her former community. After trying unsuccessfully to raise the alarm both in her order and in the Vatican, she left, and is now a researcher and activist pushing for a change in Church structures that allow abuse and cover-up Read more
A theology lecturer at the Catholic theological college that educates New Zealand seminarians is calling to defrock 91-year-old priest Magnus Murray, reports the Otago Daily Times. Dr Rocio Figueroa (pictured) of Good Shepherd College, Te Hepara Pai, says the Church’s response needs to be “centred on the victims, not covering up the perpetrators or trying Read more