Posted on 06/21/2002 12:34:07 PM PDT by aculeus
The Catholic Church in New Zealand has revealed that 38 confirmed cases of sexual abuse have been committed by men in its ranks.
In a landmark move, Catholic bishops and religious orders have lifted a veil of silence and told the Weekend Herald about previously secret investigations and payouts by church authorities.
Amid international controversy about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and news of several New Zealand cases this week, senior church figures yesterday laid bare the extent of offending.
They also admitted that their previous way of dealing with offenders was wrong.
Church authorities said that under new policies, they would remove any known paedophiles from public ministry and strongly recommend victims to take criminal complaints to the police.
The steps towards openness about the church's dark secrets are also reflected in a new stance on confidentiality clauses, which prohibit revealing details of settlements.
As condemnation of secret settlements grows, the St John of God Brothers said they had ordered lawyers to remove confidentiality clauses from deals worth $300,000 already made with five victims and to ensure future agreements do not have them.
The largest order of priests in New Zealand, the Society of Mary, also gave a written undertaking that it would not take action against any victim who spoke out in defiance of a confidentiality clause.
It has paid $110,000 to five people who made accusations against three priests - none of whom remains in the order.
Bishops from the country's six dioceses told the Weekend Herald that committees set up in the early 1990s to deal with sexual abuse complaints had substantiated 38 claims going back to the 1950s.
They include complaints against priests, brothers and lay members of the church in positions of authority, and cover cases involving children and teenagers as well as several cases of adults receiving pastoral care.
Church authorities have declined previous requests to reveal the number of cases, but the bishops decided this week to give the figures in line with the new policy of openness.
The director of Catholic Communications, Lyndsay Freer, said the church's change in attitude had developed over the past 12 years.
"The church ... has come to understand the need for openness and transparency so that people can be empowered to come forward with complaints and the healing process can take place," said Mrs Freer.
"There was a tendency in the past to protect the institution or the profession.
"The recidivist nature of psychosexual dysfunction or paedophilia was not understood, and it was thought that if a person admitted guilt, confessed it and was given absolution in the sacrament of confession ... rehabilitation and forgiveness was possible.
"We now know that kind of sexual behaviour is addictive and has to be treated appropriately, and the person must be removed from any opportunity to reoffend."
In an open apology, the vice-provincial of the Society of Mary, Father Tim Duckworth, admitted that the past practice within the church of moving offenders to other parishes or schools was wrong.
"I unreservedly apologise on behalf of brother priests and religious for the hurt that has been done by some few of our number," he said.
"Even one hurt person is too many.
"In the past, when leaders in the church were faced with a case of abuse or misconduct, we made mistakes. Some mistakes were serious.
"As we look back now - with the benefit of hindsight - we find it hard to understand why we sometimes made decisions such as the geographical cure. I do not believe moving an offender helped anyone."
Offenders are now sent for treatment in Australia and removed from public ministry upon their return.
Brent Cherry, a sex abuse counsellor who has dealt with victims of priests, does not believe the church takes the offending seriously enough.
"These people have wrecked lives," he said.
"It sounds horrible to say, but they are some of the worst offenders - the length of time that they offend, the absolute betrayal of trust, their relationship of being close to God and the extent of the grooming of the children and the family."
He felt that more cases should be referred to the police.
©Copyright 2002, NZ Herald
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