The scale of reported alleged abuse within the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has become known for the first time from extensive research undertaken by the Church at the request of the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care.
A total of 1680 reports of abuse were made by 1122 individuals against Catholic clergy, brothers, nuns, sisters and lay people from 1950 to the present, with 592 alleged abusers named. Almost half the reported abuse involved sexual harm. The 1960s and 1970s were the decades with the most abuse reported, with 75 per cent dated before 1990.
The results of this research have been requested by and provided to the Royal Commission. The definition of abuse used is the one used by the commission and includes reports of sexual, physical, emotional, psychological and neglect.
The research was undertaken by Te Rōpū Tautoko, the group that coordinates Church engagement with the Royal Commission. Te Rōpū Tautoko encourages anyone who has suffered abuse in the care of the Church to approach the Police, the Royal Commission, the Church’s agency for managing reports of abuse (the National Office for Professional Standards, or NOPS), or one of the many support groups and networks that exist for survivors.
Te Rōpū Tautoko sought and examined records in an Information Gathering Project from the country’s six Catholic dioceses and from 43 Catholic religious congregations (also known as religious institutes, orders or associations). The research included records of 428 Catholic parishes, 370 Catholic schools and 67 other care institutions. The findings include:
• Of the 1274 Catholic diocesan clergy (those who work under a bishop, not for a congregation) who have worked in New Zealand since 1950, 378 reports were made about 182 (14 per cent) of those clergy.
• Of the 2286 male congregational members (brothers and priests belonging to a congregation) who have worked here since 1950, 599 reports were made about 187 (8 per cent) of them.
• Of the 4247 female congregational members (sisters or nuns) who have worked here since 1950, 258 reports were made about 120 of them, or 3 per cent.
• A total of 138 allegations of abuse were made against 103 mostly lay staff, volunteers and similar people involved with the Church.
• Of the 1680 complaints, 1350 involved children and 164 involved adults, with the age of a further 167 not established by the research. Of the 1680, almost half (835) were reports of sexual harm against a child. Of the total, 687 relate to educational facilities, 425 to residential care, 228 to parishes and 122 to other locations. A further 219 were at unidentified locations.
Te Rōpū Tautoko acknowledges that the records will not represent all abuse that has happened in the care of the Catholic Church, as the research only covers recorded reports. Not all the reports of alleged abuse found during the research resulted in police complaints or criminal convictions. Not all the reports were upheld at the time they were made, or subsequently, but many were.
Not all the alleged abusers were identified – 308 of the reports were against unidentified people. A total of 1296 reports were against 592 named alleged abusers. Of those 592, 393 had one report about them, 143 had two to four reports, 40 had five to nine, 10 had 10 to 14 and six had 15 or more. Those six accounted for more than 10 per cent of all reports of alleged abuse.
Catherine Fyfe, Chair of Te Rōpū Tautoko, says: “Church leaders are committed to ensuring transparency. Consistent with this principle, we have published this information now, as soon as the work on it has been completed. It is important to note that the extent of reports of abuse in the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has not been collated before now. The Information Gathering Project was a major exercise involving dozens of people over two years, including searching paper files dating back 70 years in hundreds of places.”
Sister Margaret Anne Mills, President of the Congregational Leaders Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand (representing Catholic religious orders and similar entities), says: “Each piece of data represents many people’s lives. Much of it represents terrible harm committed by one person on another. We can never forget that. Being involved in being part of healing that harm, as much as is possible, is, and needs to continue to be, our focus. All Church leaders need to urgently understand and acknowledge our shared history; understand and acknowledge the shocking impact of abuse in church settings on victims and their families; understand what it means for survivors and our faith communities; and act today.”
Cardinal John Dew, President of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, says: “These statistics on abuse in the Catholic Church going back to 1950 are horrifying and something we are deeply ashamed of. I am grateful that so much work has been done in researching the details and making them public. As we continue to respond to the Royal Commission into Abuse and we build a safer Church for everyone, I firmly hope that facts like these will help us to face the sad reality. The Church will learn from this and affirm its commitment to the work of safeguarding.”
The publication of the research comes shortly before the Royal Commission is scheduled to start hearings that will investigate events at Marylands School in Christchurch. Marylands was a residential school for boys, many with disabilities, run from the 1950s to 1984 by the Hospitaller Order of St John of God brothers. The commission is also looking into any abuse by the brothers at Hebron Trust, a Christchurch facility for at-risk youth operated by one of the brothers, and abuse by the brothers at Marylands against residents of the neighbouring St Joseph’s orphanage run by the Sisters of Nazareth.
In total, 236 reports of abuse relate to Marylands School and the Hebron Trust. That represents 14 per cent of all the abuse complaints compiled in the research. The three most prolific offenders worked at Marylands, and the most prolific offender went on to establish the Hebron Trust. A further 239 reports of abuse (also 14 per cent of the total) relate to St Joseph’s Orphanage and Nazareth House, Christchurch. Half of those reports do not identify an offender.
Read: The Fact Sheet from Te Rōpū Tautoko giving further details of the results of the Information Gathering Project.
The bishops and congregational leaders of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand will closely study the interim Redress report of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care and look at how they can implement the recommendations.
The report — He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu; from Redress to Puretumu — was tabled in Parliament today and makes recommendations on how survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care should be heard and get redress for the harm suffered.
It has been welcomed by the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference (representing the country’s Catholic bishops), the Congregational Leaders Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand (representing Catholic religious orders and similar entities) and Te Rōpū Tautoko (the group formed to coordinate Catholic engagement with the royal commission).
Sister Margaret Anne Mills, president of the Congregational Leaders Conference, says: “I welcome this report and acknowledge the harm suffered by survivors of abuse and proposed actions to address and provide redress. We see the report as part of the vision to transform what we are doing today and into the future.”
Cardinal John Dew, president of the NZCBC, says: “We have been listening closely to what survivors have been telling the royal commission. We have previously indicated our support for the establishment of an independent redress scheme. This report gives a series of recommendations we can study to help us as we walk alongside survivors of abuse.”
Catherine Fyfe, Chair of Te Rōpū Tautoko, says: “Te Rōpū Tautoko members thank the commissioners for their work in preparing this report and look forward to helping Church leaders along the journey of reviewing and implementing the recommendations.”
The Church has been working proactively while waiting for the commission’s report. Te Rōpū Tautoko has created a roadmap of work that needs doing across all areas of the Church to make improvements in response to reports or disclosures of abuse in the care of the Catholic Church.
“Setting it out in the Roadmap makes it clear to everyone the work that is needed and the progress being made,” says Catherine Fyfe. “This provides a sense of transparency and accountability.”
15th December 2021
Catholic Church leaders welcome Royal Commission Redress Report
The bishops and congregational leaders of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand will closely study the interim Redress report of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care and look at how they can implement the recommendations.
The report — He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu; from Redress to Puretumu — was tabled in Parliament today and makes recommendations on how survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care should be heard and get redress for the harm suffered.
It has been welcomed by the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference (representing the country’s Catholic bishops), the Congregational Leaders Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand (representing Catholic religious orders and similar entities) and Te Rōpū Tautoko (the group formed to coordinate Catholic engagement with the royal commission).
Sister Margaret Anne Mills, president of the Congregational Leaders Conference, says: “I welcome this report and acknowledge the harm suffered by survivors of abuse and proposed actions to address and provide redress. We see the report as part of the vision to transform what we are doing today and into the future.”
Cardinal John Dew, president of the NZCBC, says: “We have been listening closely to what survivors have been telling the royal commission. We have previously indicated our support for the establishment of an independent redress scheme. This report gives a series of recommendations we can study to help us as we walk alongside survivors of abuse.”
Catherine Fyfe, Chair of Te Rōpū Tautoko, says: “Te Rōpū Tautoko members thank the commissioners for their work in preparing this report and look forward to helping Church leaders along the journey of reviewing and implementing the recommendations.”
The Church has been working proactively while waiting for the commission’s report. Te Rōpū Tautoko has created a roadmap of work that needs doing across all areas of the Church to make improvements in response to reports or disclosures of abuse in the care of the Catholic Church.
“Setting it out in the Roadmap makes it clear to everyone the work that is needed and the progress being made,” says Catherine Fyfe. “This provides a sense of transparency and accountability.”
The Roadmap is here.
The Royal Commission report is here.
Updated 26th March 2021
The Catholic Church is participating in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
This week the representatives of the Church are participating in the Redress Hearings Phase 2.
The final representative of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand was Cardinal John Dew, who has made a formal apology to victims and survivors of abuse committed by priests and other Church figures.
Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington and President of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, speaking on behalf of Church leaders, gave the apology. The apology can be viewed here
Information about the Royal Commission can be found at https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/
Complaints of abuse can be made to The National Office of Professional Standards https://safeguarding.catholic.org.nz/
Updated 1st December 2020
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Aotearoa has begun its faith based redress public hearings, which includes the Catholic Church, and where some survivors of abuse in faith-based care are giving evidence.
Before the Royal Commission was instigated, the New Zealand Bishops and congregational leaders petitioned the government for the church to be included as part of the Royal Commission, saying that “Abuse in the Church must be examined, understood, acknowledged and addressed so that the voice of victims, who were often silenced, may be heard… we deeply regret every instance of abuse and welcome this Royal Commission as an opportunity for survivors to be heard and for all parties involved to continue the healing and transformation process.”
As a community it is a chance to listen to the experiences of survivors, acknowledge failings, support the justice and healing and reconciliation process and look forward to the future with hope.
The Catholic Church is determined to listen, learn, and reflect on the evidence of survivors who will speak at the first faith-based redress hearings of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care that is currently happening in Auckland. This first part of the Royal Commission’s faith-based redress hearings will hear evidence from survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Salvation Army.
“The Catholic bishops and congregational leaders are committed to upholding their responsibilities to act to stop abuse in the Catholic Church and to learn the lessons of how to respond to what has happened,” says Catherine Fyfe, chair of Te Rōpū Tautoko, the Church agency formed to co-ordinate and manage cooperation between the Royal Commission and the Catholic Church, as represented by the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference and the Congregational Leaders Conference (CLCANZ).
Te Rōpū Tautoko has provided thousands of pages of requested historical documents to the Commission.
The Royal Commission says these hearings “will investigate the adequacy of the redress processes of the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and the Salvation Army and what needs to be done to support people who have been abused or neglected in faith-based institutions.” These hearings “will not examine the merits of any individual claims, nor resolve disputed factual issues relating to those claims.”
“Our vision is for a safe church for children and vulnerable adults and I want to assure you I am committed to this as we continue to strengthen safeguarding within our parishes and communities” said Bishop Paul.
Please pray for all involved, that we will be a Church which brings peace and kindness into the lives of all, especially those who have been hurt when they should have been safe and cared for.
If you have a concern or complaint of abuse involving someone within the Church you can call the National Office of Professional Standards on 0800 114 622 or email prof.standards@nzcbc.org.nz
If you are a parishioner and have questions or need to speak to someone you are encouraged to speak to a priest in your parish, a pastoral staff member, Catholic Social Services (03-379 0012) or phone Cathedral House (03-366 9869) or email pastoral@chch.catholic.org.nz