Figures represent first time abuse allegations against the church in New Zealand have been collated in one place.

 

New Zealand’s Catholic church has admitted that 14% of its diocesan clergy have been accused of abusing children and adults since 1950.

 

The church released the figures at the request of the royal commission on abuse in care, set up in 2018 by prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who said the country needed to confront “a dark chapter” in its history, and later expanded it to include churches and other faith-based institutions.

 

An interim report by the commission in December found up to a quarter of a million children, young people and vulnerable adults were physically and sexually abused in New Zealand’s faith-based and state care institutions from the 1960s to early 2000s.

 

Te Rōpū Tautoko, the group that coordinates church engagement with the royal commission, sought and examined records 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 allegations of abuse captured physical, sexual, and emotional or psychological abuse, and neglect. A failure to act on reports and facilitating abuse were also included.

 

The extent of the allegations of abuse in the church in Aotearoa New Zealand had not been collated before now, said Catherine Fyfe, the chair of Te Rōpū Tautoko.

 

“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.”

 

The findings found that since 1950, 1,350 children and 164 adults reported suffering abuse, with the age of a further 167 not established by the research. Of the 1,680, almost half (835) were reports alleging sexual harm against a child and 80% of all reports were related to children. Of the total, 687 relate to educational facilities, 425 to residential care, 228 to parishes and 122 to other locations, and the rest were at unidentified locations.

 

Allegations were made against: 14% of Catholic diocesan clergy, who worked for a bishop and not a congregation, 8% of male congregational members (brothers or priests) and 3% of female congregation members (sisters or nuns). Most of the abuse reported happened in the 1960s and 1970s, with 75% occurring before 1990.

 

Te Rōpū Tautoko said that the records will not represent all abuse that has happened in the care of the Catholic church, as the research covers only recorded reports alleging abuse.

 

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) said the actual scale of abuse was likely to be much higher based on the information it has from its members – “as high as twelvefold, given data indicating about only one in 12 have reported [abuse] in regions across New Zealand”.

 

“The church has simply released what information it has recorded and this should not be seen as a comprehensive listing of all abuse that has occurred. The actual scale of sexual abuse is very difficult to measure.”

 

Snap said while the church acknowledges that harm was done, there has been no substantial change in the church’s own internal training methods and culture. “In the handling of abuse complaints, its investigative processes are based on the balance of probabilities and are not complainant centered.”

 

The statistics were “horrifying” and something the church was “deeply ashamed of”, said Cardinal John Dew, the president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference.

 

“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.”

 
 

Eva Corlett
The Guardian

 
 

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bishop-accountability.org : Documenting the Abuse Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church

 

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À partir de quand peut-on dire que ça (les actions commises par l’Église Catholique) – telle organisation, qui s’est comportée de telle façon, qui a fait tant de victimes … À partir de quand dit-on que c’est une organisation criminelle?

– Alain Crevier à l’émission de radio Midi Info de Radio-Canada, édition du 20 décembre 2018 (12 h 21 Des prêtres accusés d’actes pédophiles dans l’Illinois : Le regard d’Alain Crevier)

 

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5. Recours contre le diocèse de Trois-Rivières initié par Dominic Maurais: «Je porte en moi cette blessure»
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6. Pédocriminalité en France : 10 000 victimes possibles de l’Église depuis 1950 (March 2, 2021)
7. Abus sexuels du prêtre Brian Boucher : Un rapport accablant pour l’Église montréalaise (November 25, 2020)
8. Suburban NY diocese files for bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits (October 1, 2020)
9. Multiplication des poursuites contre les communautés religieuses (August 22, 2020)
10. ProPublica Releases a List of 6,754 Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse (January 28, 2020)
11. Le pape François lève le secret pontifical sur les agressions sexuelles (December 17, 2019)
12. 100s of Accused Priests Living Under Radar With No Oversight (October 4, 2019)
13. Abus sexuels sur mineurs dans l’Eglise : le pape blâme “Satan” et déçoit les victimes (February 24, 2019)
14. Pope defrocks ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick over abuse claims (February 16, 2019)
15. Pope Acknowledges Nuns Were Sexually Abused by Priests and Bishops (February 5, 2019)
16. More than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse not yet publicly identified by Catholic Church, Illinois attorney general finds (December 20, 2018)
17. Prendre la mesure du scandale des prêtres pédophiles au Québec (October 10, 2018)
18. Abus: le pape exprime sa «honte», Dublin lui demande d’agir (August 25, 2018)
19. Pennsylvanie: 300 prêtres accusés de pédophilie, plus de 1000 victimes (August 14, 2018)
20. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Resigns Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal (July 28, 2018)
21. Les 34 évêques chiliens offrent leur démission après un scandale de pédophilie (May 18, 2018)
22. Le cardinal australien Pell sera jugé pour agressions sexuelles (May 1, 2018)
23. Pope revives lapsed sex abuse commission amid skepticism (February 17, 2018)
24. Le pape exprime sa “honte” pour des cas de pédophilie dans le clergé chilien (January 16, 2018)
25. Vatican police ‘break up gay orgy at home of secretary of one of Pope Francis’s key advisers’
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26. Pédophilie dans l’Eglise : le poids du silence (2017) présenté par ELISE LUCET (May 18, 2017)
27. One in 14 Catholic priests accused of abuse in Australia (February 6, 2017)
28. Des prêtres de Montréal se verront interdire d’être seuls avec des enfants (June 23, 2016)
29. Le pape crée une instance pour juger les évêques couvrant des abus sexuels (June 10, 2015)
30. Les propos du pape sur la pédophilie ont des échos jusqu’au Québec (July 15, 2014)
31. Des victimes de prêtres veulent Mgr Ouellet comme pape (March 11, 2013)
32. Pornographie juvénile : un prêtre de Sorel-Tracy accusé (March 8, 2013)
33. Congrégations générales – Les problèmes de l’Église sur la table (March 7, 2013)
34. Agressions sexuelles: un deuxième frère de Sainte-Croix sera arrêté (December 29, 2012)
35. Symposium sur la pédophilie – Le pape appelle au «renouveau de l’Église» (February 15, 2012)
36. Pornographie juvénile – Sitôt condamné, l’ex-évêque Lahey est libéré (January 5, 2012)
37. Église néerlandaise: des «dizaines de milliers» de mineurs abusés sexuellement (December 16, 2011)
38. Pédophilie – L’Église veut éduquer son clergé par Internet (June 28, 2011)
39. Former Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey pleads guilty to child pornography charges (May 4, 2011)
40. Pédophilie – Le Vatican va envoyer une «circulaire» aux évêques (November 20, 2010)
41. Undercover Reporter Films Priests At Gay Clubs (July 26, 2010)
42. Le Vatican durcit les règles contre la pédophilie (July 15, 2010)
43. Top Catholic Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing His Own Sons (June 25, 2010)
44. Pope addresses priest abuse scandal (June 11, 2010)
45. Vatican Sex Abuse Prosecutor: Guilty Priests Are Going To Hell (June 4, 2010)
46. Priest Accused Of Abusing Boy, Turning Home Into ‘Erotic Dungeon’ Surrenders To Police
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47. Le Vatican publiera un guide contre la pédophilie (April 9, 2010)
48. Agressions sexuelles par des membres du clergé – Les victimes exigent la démission de Mgr Ouellet
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La névrose chrétienne (1976) par le Docteur PIERRE SOLIGNAC (May 25, 2012)