Longhurst's comments, reported in the widely read publication La Croix International, are strongly critical of the very people from whom he receives his daily bread.

New Zealand's Catholic bishops employ him to teach at Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College.

He is also the leader of SNAP - the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Citing numerous broken promises, inadequate responses and apparent lack of accountability, Longhust (pictured) says "They [the bishops] have brought great shame on the New Zealand Catholic Church".

He says the bishops are overlooking the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care and adds that its final report, which shows their lack of accountability and transparency in responding to pervasive abuse, merits serious condemnation.

"Given such a finding, perhaps it would be best for the local Church and New Zealand society if those church leaders, the bishops, tendered their resignations to the pope" he says.

The problem is longstanding and is not just about the current leaders, Longhurst points out.

He says 22 years ago, a bishops' pastoral letter on abuse said "We give you an assurance of our commitment to confront this problem with openness and transparency".

Despite this assurance, the Inquiry found the Catholic bishops did not honour this commitment.

"Evidently they are not capable of making the required changes" Longhurst says.

"By such repetitive misbehaviour, they are keeping us all at risk, endangering more children and vulnerable people in the care of New Zealand's Catholic Church.

"Therefore, they themselves must be changed. They must resign."

Episcopal accountability

After publication of the Royal Commission's final report, the Catholic bishops promised "to ensure that the findings and recommendations of this significant Inquiry are not lost or confined to words in a report" Longhurst explains.

Longhurst has accused the bishops and congregational leaders of a lack of transparency.

He says he has had no response from the bishops.

Survivors appeal

Catholic survivors in New Zealand have appealed to Pope Francis three times since 2022 to ask him to hold the bishops to account.

They also asked him to respect his own calls for openness and transparency in dealing with survivors' complaints.

In addition, they asked Francis to help dismantle what they continue to call the local church's system of coverup and denial that is harming so many people.

So far they have not had a reply.

Source

• La Croix

Adams had commented earlier in response to a letter to the editor published in the Manawatu Standard by Dr Christopher Longhurst, leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Puzzling response

Adams says he remains puzzled by Longhurst's unwillingness to accept and recognise a culture change in the Church he works for.

He acknowledges Longhurst's work in the area of sexual abuse by priests.

"I acknowledge the work of survivors and their advocates has been critical in bringing to light the scourge of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and in our wider society", writes Adams.

"As the Roman Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North, I remain convinced the Church has made significant strides in her efforts over recent times to make the Catholic Church a safe place for children and vulnerable adults, but with no room for complacency or a sense that a job has been completed.

"Our culture has changed, and it must continue to change."

Adams went on to express his trust in the work of police investigators and the Church's National Office for Professional Standards.

Zero appetite

In his letter, Longhurst said that Adams' earlier assurances that there is "Zero appetite for a culture of abuse in the Catholic Church" do not ring true.

He says that Adams' July 30 claim that, if an accusation were made against a Church member, that Church member would be stood down is not true.

Longhurst says he has a complaint against a priest that is under investigation, but that the priest is still in active ministry in the Palmerston North Diocese.

Christopher Longhurst

He says the situation is compounded by the refusal of Adams' professional standards office to allow the investigations into that complaint to proceed.

He also claims that an unnamed priest in an allegation made by Steven Carvell was never stood down when the allegation was made and that, even in retirement, that priest remains in ministry while the Church investigations continue.

Source

• Manawatu Standard

The Waikato Times reports a woman from within the Hamilton Catholic diocese saying that in a meeting with Lowe, she told him she was raped by a Catholic priest who had visited her house to perform a blessing.

In the course of the conversation, the Times discloses the woman says Lowe told her, "SNAP have blown things out of proportion at the Royal Commission [of Inquiry into Abuse in Care]."

The comments left her feeling "the church has let me down," she says.

"I was shaking, and it caused me to cry because the Bishop brought back a feeling that what the priest did to me was not significant.

"When survivors speak up against the abuse then the Bishop thinks this is out of proportion. I would like to know what a proportionate response is to being raped by a priest, as I was."

With legal matters continuing, the Waikato Times sought an interview with Lowe about the woman's experience but says the diocese responded with an emailed statement from Lowe.

Quoting from part of the email, The Times reports Lowe indicated he had been "actively helping [the woman] in my role as Bishop.

"I am not able to breach the confidentiality of my work with her by discussing it in public."

However, the abuse victim complained to a Catholic abuse Survivor network (SNAP) about Lowe and his response to her disclosure.

Against the background of ongoing legal matters, SNAP's national leader Dr Christopher Longhurst is looking to Lowe for a more pastoral resolution to his comment and the effect it had on the woman.

"I am sorry that Bishop Lowe has not been upfront with an explanation as to what he said," says Longhurst. "I do not believe this has anything to do with confidentiality. Privacy and confidentiality pertain to personal information, not to process or requests for clarification."

"To me, the Bishop's response seems like an example of the three Ds of avoiding accountability: deny, deflect, diffuse. A straightforward and honest response to our request for clarification would have been more appropriate," Longhurst adds.

"Stonewalling, silence and denial are the constant response from this Bishop," says Longhurst.

Longhurst feels an apology to the woman "would have been more appropriate and is still warranted".

Source

• The Waikato Times

SNAP - a group of clergy sex abuse survivors - in a recent letter to Dame Cindy Kiro called for the diplomatic ties to be cut.

The group says Government House informed them "the Governor-General acts on the advice of Ministers, and this is not a matter she can comment on."

SNAP has since written to New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.

They want her to recommend New Zealand rescind the protections and privileges it granted to the Catholic corporate state entity in 1973.

SNAP's new open letter claims those "privileges and protections were not only unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory" - they were granted to one church only, they explained.

These privileges also "created whakanoa i te tapu o te tangata, violation of people, and a lack of self-determination for our nation."

Second karanga

SNAP hopes the Government will hear its second karanga to Mahuta.

"As you will know, the Holy See is a legal corporate person under international law, and it maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with several sovereign states including New Zealand," says SNAPs letter to Mahuta.

"It also performs multilateral diplomacy with several intergovernmental organisations.

"The Holy See claims a need to exercise its mission in full freedom when dealing with every interlocutor," the letter continues. But the Holy See's freedoms have never been subject to any critical examination.

"Thus, The Holy See has been able to escape the scrutiny applied to real sovereign states and corporations."

SNAP told Mahuta that the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions' 2021 interim report found the Church dominated many religious institutions for crimes of "predatory and criminal sexual violence."

These crimes, SNAP wrote, were perpetrated by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns.

SNAP says the political privilege and immunity the Government grants to the Holy See enables the Catholic Church to conceal sex abuse crimes and impede justice for thousands of child victims.

The sex abuse survivors' letter claims Catholic lawyers working for Catholic bishops are obstructing the Royal Commission's progress, "despite what those same bishops are telling the New Zealand public."

The Vatican is also facilitating this, SNAP tells Mahuta.

Although SNAP offers to supply concrete examples of its claims, none is actually referenced in the letter itself.

Political and legal courtesy

Victims and survivors and their whanau in New Zealand are not able to trust the government, SNAP told Mahuta.

It grants political immunity to a Church which uses that immunity to shield its abusers and conceal their paedophilic crimes, SNAP wrote.

"They do not want to be abused by the laws of our State as they were abused by Catholic Church leaders.

"May we ask: Will you help us remove these unjust privileges and protections from a foreign church-corporate state which is abusing our nation and its people?"

Source

• SNAP
• Scoop

In a King's Birthday appeal, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Aotearoa wrote an unsigned, open letter to Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro.

The group, under leader Chris Longhurst (pictured), told Kiro New Zealand's sovereignty is being compromised. They said this is because sex abuse crimes are being concealed.

In their open letter, they maintain that the political privilege and immunity the Government grants to The Holy See enables the Catholic Church to conceal sex abuse crimes and impede justice for thousands of child victims.

"Will you help us to remove this unjust privilege from a foreign church-corporate state which is abusing our nation and people?"

SNAP referred Kiro to the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions' December 2021 interim report.

They said the report found the Church "to be predominant amongst many religious institutions, for its prevalence and sheer scale of predatory, indeed criminal, sexual violence committed against innocent children and vulnerable adults ... by ... Catholic priests, brothers and nuns in New Zealand.

Immunity questioned

"This same Church enjoys a form of immunity granted since 1973 by the New Zealand Government only to this Church," SNAP wrote.

SNAP told Kiro they believe the "worst offenders enjoy special privileges and protections."

The Church has and is using these privileges and protections "to facilitate the concealment and avoidance of accountability for a multitude of very serious crimes," said SNAP.

The open letter went on to tell Kiro "a political and legal courtesy is facilitating the most repugnant coverup of crimes of sexual violation of helpless and innocent children by Catholic bishops and congregational leaders in New Zealand - and, of course, from the Vatican which uses its political status and religious privilege to facilitate that coverup.

"How can one church enjoy such exceptional privilege to avoid common law and accountability to nearly 1700 officially recognised survivors of such crimes and, we believe, thousands more yet to come forward?" SNAP asked the Governor General.

Tika

New Zealand survivors and their whanau cannot trust a system which grants effective political immunity for paedophilic crimes, the open letter continued. They do not wish to be abused by the law as Church leaders abused them.

SNAP went on to ask Kiro "as representative of our sovereign nation" to recommend the Government "rescind the archaic diplomatic protections and privileges which it granted to The Holy See in 1973... operating in our country out of Vatican City State."

It would be tika for this to happen, SNAP said.

They said these protections and privileges, besides enabling abuse and its coverup in New Zealand, are also unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory.

"They have created whakanoa amongst our people" SNAP wrote.

The open letter then said the Holy See's ‘diplomatic immunity' enables the Church to obstruct SNAP members' rights and entitlement to justice, "among literally thousands of survivors of heinous misdeeds."

SNAP said it would therefore like Kiro to "lead our country and its people towards freedom from such corruption, towards hohou rongo, the restoration of right relationships, by calling on the Government to repeal those protections and privileges."

Source

• Scoop

SNAP's unhappy letter to Pope Francis follows the New Zealand Government's exclusion of faith-based survivors from early compensation pay-outs and a failed appeal to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference.

The Government wants faith-based institutions to continue with their own redress schemes.

Abuse survivor and spokesperson for SNAP, Dr Christopher Longhurst (pictured), says it is his opinion that victims and survivors in New Zealand were not being treated justly under the Catholic Church's redress scheme.

However, Steve Lowe, Bishop of Auckland and Secretary of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, counter's Longhurst's opinion saying the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and congregational leaders have listened to survivors through the inquiry hearings and implemented changes.

Lowe, in a statement, told CathNews that the New Zealand Government is in the process of forming an independent redress scheme for survivors of abuse in state and faith-based institutions and that the scheme follows on from interim recommendations made by the NZ Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

He says the Church is continually updating and improving the complaints and disclosure processes to help survivors of abuse and will continue to engage actively on improvements throughout the remaining time of the Royal Commission and beyond.

Lowe says that the Church recognising the introduction of this scheme will result in significant changes to the Church's National Office of Professional Standards and A Path to Healing.

Longhurst remains unhappy.

He says he wrote to Cardinal Dew in November 2019, to the New Zealand Bishops Conference and even to the Pope's representative, Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, but his group is being ignored.

Following his unsuccessful bid to attract their attention, Longhurst accuses the Church of both a lack of integrity and competence to deal with the matters.

He alleges that while publicly the leaders of the local Catholic church extend an "open hand to the hope of healing", behind closed doors they traumatise survivors a second time by violating their own procedures. He accuses the director of the National Office of Professional Standards of falsifying the review report of an independent director.

Writing to the pope, Longhurst says:

"Most sadly, we are being harmed by the very Church office set up to provide healing, the Church's National Office for Profession Standards, tasked with administering Te Houhanga Rongo - A Path To Healing (APTH).

"Sadly, for some time now, NOPS officials have been breaching APTH's very principles and procedures in managing complaints cases.

"In one case, the NOPS director even falsified the review report of an independent investigator.

"Consequently, abuse survivors are not only being denied the promised compassionate and fair response but also re-traumatised by the very office set up to provide a path to healing," Longhurst says in his letter.

Reuters says it is uncertain if the Pope has yet seen the letter.

Sources

• Reuters
• Supplied: SNAP
• Supplied: NZCBC

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.

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 of abuse in religious and faith-based settings are not included.

Hipkins said the new scheme would cover both state and religious claimants, but faith-based institutions would for now provide their own claims and redress processes.

"While we are engaging with faith-based institutions, it is currently up to each of them to determine whether to introduce faster payment processes," he said.

"It's worth noting that faith-based institutions can often settle claims more quickly than these agencies."

Dave Mullin (pictured), who leads the Te Ropu Tautoko catholic church group dealing with the Commission and the Crown Response Unit, said they were closely studying the Cabinet paper that detailed Hipkins' announcement.

"We are seeking clarity from government officials on how and when matters of faith-based redress will be incorporated into this process, and we look forward to engaging in the work.

"Meanwhile, the church asks survivors who - due to serious ill-health or age - may not be able to engage with the proposed independent redress system, to approach the Church's National Office for Professional Standards" said Mullin.

However, some survivors say it would be better if the government got involved in the process.

In testimony given earlier in the year to the Royal Commission, a number of church organisations said they offered survivors an apology, an ex gratia payment based on the level of abuse, and the offer of counselling.

Testimony to the Royal Commission showed the response between various religious organisations inside the Catholic Church was not even.

Different church and faith-based groups, eg Anglican, Brethren, Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Salvation Army, also responded differently from each other.

Abuse survivor Steve Goodlass said the government had failed to honour the intent of the commission's interim payment recommendation.

"It's disturbing because the government has just redefined stuff in there and completely ostracised one group or has discriminated against faith-based survivors," he said.

"Even people in the state systems, they're getting shafted again. Why hold a commission when you're just going to exclude people and ignore key principles? It's just awful," he said.

Unhappy with how the Bishops National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) has settled abuse cases, survivor group SNAP focussed solely on the Catholic Church's response saying it wants a more immediate reply from the Catholic Church.

It also wants the bishops to set up an independent committee with input from SNAP Aotearoa and its survivor members.

When NOPS was established, it was a body of "second instance", a place where survivors could appeal if they thought a Catholic Church body had not properly handled their case.

It was headed by retired Police Commissioner John Jamieson.

Some years later, under the leadership of former priest and social worker Mr Bill Kilgallon, NOPS became the body of "first instance" for most Catholic religious groups.

NOPS continues to operate as a place of first instance under the current director, former lawyer Virginia Noonan.

Sources

• RNZ
• Supplied

Christopher Longhurst, who coordinates Aotearoa New Zealand's Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) was commenting on the likelihood of Benedict's knowledge of instances of abuse.

Longhurst is also a respected Dogmatic Theologian at the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' theological college.

He posited his question in mid-January after German law firm Westpfal, Spilker, Wastl released a report on the handling of sexual abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

The independent report found between 1945-2019 at least 235 priests sexually abused "497 known victims".

On Tuesday 8 February, the Vatican released a "confessional" letter from Benedict in response to the charges made against him.

In his letter, he asks for forgiveness for any "grievous faults" in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich. He admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing, however.

He does take personal responsibility and asks forgiveness for "the abuses and the errors" that occurred on his watch when he held different positions of great responsibility in the church, not just in Munich but also in Rome.

"I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church," he noted.

"All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate. Each individual case of sexual abuse is appalling and irreparable.

"The victims of sexual abuse have my deepest sympathy and I feel great sorrow for each individual case".

Ironically, among those accused of failing in their duty of care as leaders is Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who commissioned the independent report. Since 2017 he has twice failed to inform the Vatican of abuse allegations.

Benedict, as the former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982. The lawyers found he did not act appropriately in four sexual abuse cases after having been made aware of them.

Soon after the report's release, Benedict sent 82 pages of observations to its authors, strongly denying any allegations of covering up cases.

A couple days later, he wrote to the authors again, apologising for mistakenly saying he did not attend a disputed ordinariate meeting in 1980 regarding the Munich assignment of a priest accused of abuse. He had attended the meeting, he said.

"Full responsibility" for the assignment was taken by former vicar general Father Gerhard Gruber in 2010.

Eleven days after the independent report's release, German Bishops' Conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing said Benedict should apologise for his role in the Church sex abuse scandal and accept faults in the alleged cover-up of cases.

Source

• Supplied - SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand
• Law.com
• La Croix
• America
• Sky.com
• uCatholic
• Image: CNN

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

However following the Victoria Supreme Court's 2-1 ruling against Pell (78) last week, his legal team says it is considering a further appeal to Australia's High Court.

The Vatican says it is waiting for Pell to make his final appeal before launching its own investigation. It noted that Pell has always maintained his innocence.

Massimo Faggioli, a professor of historical theology at Villanova University, a private Catholic institution, says Pell's conviction has caused a divide between the conservative and liberal sides in the Church. By not interfering the Vatican is remaining neutral he says.

In contrast, Lennon, who is the president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), says the church should have been decisive following Pell's conviction and immediately defrocked him.

"I don't know what other proof any organization needs other than a conviction. Them saying ‘Well, let's wait for the appeal,' that's sort of a cowardly way to approach someone who was convicted of sexual abuse and rape," Lennon says.

Faggioli says he believes the Vatican's handling of the Pell case shows it made a strategic decision to allow Pell to face secular justice - and that shows progress.

While the delay is frustrating, the Vatican accepts there is no possible fight against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church without secular justice. This is a huge step forward from where the Church was 15 years ago, he says.

Source

• Time
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

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 isn't the only commissioner to step down.

Controversy has followed the Commission since it was set up early last year.

That includes appointing a gang member to a key role, using survivors for trial or pilot interviews, claims Sir Anand fell asleep while a survivor told their story and accusations commissioners shut down questions about potential conflicts of interest.

Sir Anand's resignation is worrying, says social worker state care abuse survivor Paora Crawford Moyle.

It "makes [me] and probably my brothers ... really wonder what's going on in there and what else is to come," she says.

"Are the cracks starting to appear?"

Moyle says she is concerned the work the Inquiry should be doing won't get done because the Commission was having to spend so much time on damage control.

Another survivor, Anne Hill, says she has found it "re-traumatising and at times very frustrating because the issue of child abuse gets lost in issues about who has the power to speak now".

Liz Tonks from the network of survivors of abuse in faith-based institutions wants the problem fixed quickly.

"Any issue that needs to be resolved and isn't straightforward and just doesn't let them get on with the job is a setback. Survivors have been waiting for this for years," she says.

Just who who will take over when Sir Anand leaves the Inquiry in November is of concern.

Dr Christopher Longhurst, a Catholic and national leader of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, is concerned Judge Coral Shaw, whom he has already found "dismissive", might take Sir Anand's place.

He will be telling other survivors to stay away if she takes over Sir Anand's job, he says.

Moyle agrees, saying there are "scores of people already who won't come forward ... because of how the commissioners are treating survivors".

A lawyer and youth advocate, Sonja Cooper, who will be providing expert evidence to the Commission disagrees with Moyle and Longhurst.

Cooper says in her view Shaw is eminently capable and would have learnt from past criticisms.

Source

• RNZ
• Scoop
• Image: Suff

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 of the network describes its mission as supporting each other, protecting children, providing advocacy around laws, reporting abuse, and speaking out against abusers and those who have covered up for them.

SNAP NZ is welcoming survivors of abuse from all faith-based organisations and says that through all of its endeavours it hopes that together healing will be delivered.

"At SNAP Aotearoa-New Zealand, we know that sometimes all it takes to heal is a little support. We are determined to make an impact," Longhurst said.

"The core of our efforts will be to bring together survivors of abuse by priests and religious across Aotearoa-New Zealand.

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

International organisation

Internationally, NCR, 2018, reports a flurry of SNAP leadership resignations.

The resignations occurred over 15 months, leaving many inside and outside SNAP asking questions about its future.

SNAP received only 130 registrations for its 2018 conference.

This number is less than half the number at the 2017 annual international conference.

Speaking at the 2018 conference, acting administrator Tim Lennon sought to ease concerns about SNAP's survival.

Later in the year, SNAP described "as momentous" the appointment of Zach Hiner as new executive director at a time Hiner labels as "critical".

SNAP claims to be the largest, oldest and most active self-help group for clergy sex abuse victims, whether assaulted by ministers, priests, nuns or rabbis.

The international organisation claims more than 25,000 members and support groups meet in over 60 cities across the United States of America and the world.

Source

• Supplied
• snapnetwork.org
• www.snapnetwork.org
• NCR
• SNAP - media release
• Image: TCI

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, and Barbara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director were named in a lawsuit by a former employee.

They deny the charges.

The employee, Gretchen Hammond, claims she was sacked after she learned SNAP's principal officers were colluding with attorneys representing sex abuse survivors.

She says in charges made in papers filed with the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, that SNAP accepts financial kickbacks for referring abuse victims to attorneys.

The Court files say Hammond was fired after discovering "SNAP does not focus on protecting or helping survivors - it exploits them.

"SNAP routinely accepts financial kickbacks from attorneys in the form of 'donations.' In exchange for the kickbacks, SNAP refers survivors as potential clients to attorneys, who then file lawsuits on behalf of the survivors against the Catholic Church.

"These cases often settle, to the financial benefit of the attorneys and, at times, to the financial benefit of SNAP, which has received direct payments from survivors' settlements."

Blaine denies the charges.

"The allegations are not true," she said in a statement sent to Catholic News Service as well as other news organizations.

"This will be proven in court.

"SNAP leaders are now, and always have been, devoted to following the SNAP mission, which is 'To help victims heal and to prevent further sexual abuse'."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Washington Post
• Image: Chicago Sun Times

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 to sell off Church property and assets to compensate victims.

"I have supported your generous commitment to bring healing to victims - in the knowledge that in healing we too are healed - and to work to ensure that such crimes will never be repeated," he continued, prompting a round of applause from the assembled bishops.

Between 2004 and 2013, US dioceses paid US$1.7billion in legal settlements.

The Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) criticised the Pope's comments.

Spokesperson Barbara Dorris said the US bishops had, almost without exception, shown cowardice and callousness and continue to do so.

"They offer excuses, exploit legal technicalities and hide behind expensive lawyers and public relations professionals, hardly the marks of courage," she said.

"We're also sad that Francis can't bring himself to call this crisis what it is - not ‘difficult moments in recent history', but the continuing cover-up of clergy child sex crimes by almost the entire Church hierarchy."

Pope Francis called on the US bishops to overcome their differences and present a gentler and more understanding face to the faithful, especially those who have views with which they disagree.

He stressed that dialogue is "our method".

"Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor," Pope Francis said.

Earlier, the Pope visited the White House, speaking about immigration, climate change, inequality and the family.

President Barack Obama lavished praise on the Pope as someone in whom "we see a living example of Jesus' teachings".

Sources

• The Guardian
• Catholic Herald
• The Tablet
• Text of Pope address to US bishops
• Text of Pope address at White House
• Image: Fox News

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 archdiocese since 2000.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese in the United States named Fr Wadeson and dozens of other priests in its "Report to the People of God: Clergy Sexual Abuse Archdiocese of Los Angeles 1930-2003".

The report was published in 2004, at which time the allegations against Fr Wadeson were deemed "credible".

The accuation against Fr Wadeson were reportedly made in the 1990s, about alleged abuse in the 1970s involving two children.

But a re-examination of his case by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez cleared him.

Last year, at the request of Fr Wadeson, the archdiocese of Los Angeles conducted "a re-examination of the matter", the Archdiocese of Agana stated, citing its Los Angeles counterpart.

"Having reviewed the documentation presented by Fr Wadeson, and following the 2014 re-examination, the archdiocese has concluded that there is no reason to preclude Fr Wadeson from serving in priestly ministry," the Archdiocese of Agana stated.

The archdiocese didn't state whether Fr Wadeson will return to Guam.

The historic accusations against Fr Wadeson were brought to light last year by the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests.

Commenting on the latest development concerning Fr Wadeson, SNAP director David Clohessy said his organisation had little faith in internal church inquiries in these matters.

Instead, Mr Clohessy said the examinations should be done by independent, experienced and unbiased professionals in law enforcement, "not by self-interested, biased amateurs in church offices".

Sources

• Mariannas Variety
• Guam Pacific Daily News
• Image: Guam Stripes

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 it is aware of 352 incidents of known abuse since 1952.

Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said the document release represents "a tiny first step" for the archdiocese in addressing past abuse claims.

Cardinal Francis George said: We cannot change the past, but we hope we can rebuild trust through honest and open dialogue. Child abuse is a crime and a sin."

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Fr John Howard Wadeson left Guam last week saying he had been falsely accused.

The priest said he decided to leave because he didn't want false accusations against him to tarnish Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

The Archdiocese of Agana announced on July 22 that Archbishop Apuron had removed Fr Wadeson from "active and public ministry" in response to "concerns in the community".

A 2004 report on clergy abuse issued by Los Angeles archdiocese lists Fr Wadeson as being credibly accused of molesting two people between 1973 and 1977, while he was working as a priest with the Divine Word Missionaries religious order.

The matters did not end up going to court and he was eventually removed from ministry in Los Angeles.

His religious order would have been responsible for dealing with the allegations at the time, said a Los Angeles archdiocese spokeswoman.

In 2011, Wadeson asked Los Angeles archdiocese for authorisation to minister once more in Los Angeles.

The archdiocese refused and contacted church officials in Guam after learning he was working there, said archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan.

He said he did not know what was done with the information.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests had called on Archbishop Apuron to remove Fr Wadeson from ministry immediately.

Fr Wadeson had been staying at Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Guam.

After Fr Wadeson was removed from public ministry in Guam, Agana Archdiocese stated it "has a policy regarding sexual misconduct and sexual harassment and takes these matters seriously".

Pacific Daily News stated local church leadership has not responded questions as to when the archdiocese knew of the allegations against Fr Wadeson in Los Angeles.

Fr Wadeson has also spent months each year in San Francisco and, according to San Francisco Archdiocese spokeswoman Dr Christine Mugrich, he came with a letter of good standing.

San Francisco archdiocese revoked his faculties after it found out about the Guam actions.

Agana archdiocese information indicated Fr Wadeson was serving at a Neocatechumenal Center in San Francisco.

Sources

• Pacific Daily News
• Mariannas Variety
• CBS San Francisco
• Image: Guam Online

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference, said Italian law does not require it and victims may not want it.

The guidelines, published in revised form in late March, were called for by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In 2010, the Vatican instructed bishops to report abuse to police, but only where required by law.

The Italian guidelines cite a 1985 agreement between the Vatican and Italy that stated that clergy aren't obliged to tell magistrates about information obtained through their religious ministry.

But the guidelines remind bishops they have a moral duty to contribute to the common good.

Cardinal Bagnasco argued the guidelines did not represent a "no" to mandatory reporting; rather they were the expression of concern for the victims' right to privacy.

"We priests have to be very careful to respect the privacy, discretion and sense of reserve [of victims], we've got to be sensitive to the trauma of victims who do not want to be thrust into the public eye . . . ," he said.

Cardinal Bagnasco said the Church's moral obligation towards victims counts for much more than its juridical obligations.

The abuse survivors group SNAP were highly critical of the Italian guidelines.

They said: "The stunning, depressing and irresponsible contradiction between what Vatican officials say about abuse and do about abuse continues."

They also criticised Pope Francis for not amending the Vatican requirement, which "give Italian bishops permission to ignore or conceal the rape of boys or girls", they charged.

Victims' lobby groups argue that, while the right of victims and their families to privacy and discretion is justified, a primary concern must be to ensure no existing sex offender gets to abuse more children in future because he has not been reported to state authorities.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Irish Times
• Fox News
• Image: Yahoo

David Clohessy was answering questions in court, amid accusation the group had printed restricted information in a press release.

Asked by lawyers, "Has SNAP to your knowledge ever issued a press release that contained false information?", Clohessy responded, "Sure," without offereing any defense or explanation.

CNA reports Clohessy refused to answer numerous questions posed by attorneys after his own lawyers objected and claimed that the organization was not required to provide the information under the Missouri Rape Crisis Center Statute.

However, he acknowledged, "I don't know under the Missouri statutes exactly what constitutes a rape crisis center."

He added that he was unsure if SNAP had ever sent out literature identifying itself "as a rape crisis center" and explained, "we don't hold ourselves out to be formal licensed counselors."

Clohessy also said

• despite most of SNAP's time was spent counseling victims he was uncertain whether any SNAP employees were licensed counselors
• he has no formal education or training with regard to rape crisis counseling
• he could not give definitons for "rape trauma syndrome", a "safe exam" or "repressed memory"

The statements came out from questions being asked as a result of accusations centered around concerns that an lawyer violated a court gag order by revealing information about an abuse lawsuit to the organization.

Clohessy was ordered by a judge to answer the questions in an out-of-court testimony that may later be used for legal purposes in an ongoing attempt to determine whether the gag order had been violated.

Clohessy declined to answer whether SNAP had a list of lawyers that it refers people to and how much money it receives in donations from lawyers. He did however say they talk to lawyers who file lawsuits, CNA reports.

CNA reports he also refused to respond to questions about how he was able to post lawsuit information on the group's website before it was filed with the court. He did admit however that this is part of what SNAP does; publicise lawsuits against priests.

A ruling will soon be made as to whether Clohessy will be required to respond to further questions that he refused to answer in a January 2 deposition.

Sources

• CNA
• Image: Sancte Pater