They had been tied to the fence on Saturday, 1 June to honour survivors of sexual abuse as part of the launch The Catholic Boys which recounts the abuse experience of three brothers by Fr Frank Green.

The ribbons were removed by some children who had later been at the church.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church said it seems the children, who knew nothing about what had taken place earlier in the day, saw the ribbons.

They had been upset by the messages on some of the ribbons so they removed them and put them in the rubbish.

Some of the ribbons were retrieved and tied back onto the fence. Other new ribbons have been added.

Last Sunday a letter from Patrick Dunn, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland was read out at the Sunday Masses at Our Lady of the Assumption Church:

"You will have noticed that there are a number of ribbons tied to the fence alongside the church. These have been placed by a family who experienced abuse in the parish many years ago.

"Members of this family and their supporters held a ceremony of healing in the church grounds last weekend.

"It has become a tradition for victims of abuse to place ribbons around the places where abuse occurred, with messages on them calling for justice and love to prevail in all our dealings.

"I would ask you to respect these feelings, and not to remove the ribbons, but to pray instead for all who have experienced abuse of any kind in this parish and elsewhere."

Source

• Supplied
• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

"We are concerned that they feel the process following their complaint was not satisfactory," the Church says in a statement.

In 2002 Mike, Gerry and Chris Ledingham went public with their stories of abuse and the Church made a financial settlement with them.

However, the brothers have ongoing concerns about the church's attitude to child sexual abuse.

Mike Ledingham said the church should do more to acknowledge past abuse and prevent future abuse.

"They should be penitent."

On June 1, two of the brothers, Chris and Mike, family and friends returned to Our Lady of Assumption Church, Onehunga, Auckland where and a Maori healer came to cleanse the clergy house.

The cleansing coincided with the launch of Mike's book "The Catholic Boys".

In a speech at the book launch, Chris Ledingham (pictured) said he used to struggle even driving down the road past the church.

"This criminal offender had not only violated my body but crushed my soul and spirit as well," he said of Green.

Chris Ledingham told the group that his 2002 experience meeting with Bishop Dunn, Monsignor Cronin, other clergy and their QCs re-victimised him.

"Our testimony was met within a combative atmosphere, with disdain and disbelief.

"The church circled the wagons and defended itself.

"For them, the church was under attack, and we were the enemy", he said.

Closure and cathartic cleansing

Ledingham said that until Saturday he could not get closure but the presbytery cleansing ceremony, led by tohunga Rehua Ote Rangi Kereama, was a "process of release".

Recently Chris and Mike Ledingham also met Royal Commission's Ali'imuamua Sandra Alofivae, where Chris Ledingham said he was respected, supported and believed throughout the entire process.

"Michael and I came away feeling very glad we had attended. There was a feeling of relief, a cathartic joy of sorts."

Virginia Noonan, Director of the Catholic Church's National Office of Professional Standards, said she hopes the book launch and Maori blessing on the site will be part of the healing process to these survivors.

Noonan says she is happy to meet with the Ledingham brothers "to better understand what happened and if there anything further we can do".

Sources

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff