www.peterellis.co.nz : seeking justice for Peter Ellis : mail to: [email protected]

Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

Index: Home Page Peter Ellis
Index: Accusations in Institutions

The Press
June 28, 2002

Church letter on abuse
by Yvonne Martin

New Zealand's Catholic bishops are responding to the mounting revelations of sexual abuse within their clergy with a formal letter on the subject to go to the country's Catholics this weekend.

The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, John Cunneen, said he and his colleagues wanted to "speak to our people in the light of what we have come to know, especially in the last few weeks", about sexual offending by Catholic priests and brothers.

Bishops' letters are a forum used occasionally by the church hierarchy to comment on significant issues confronting the wider church.

It will be the first letter on the abuse issue in New Zealand, and follows other recent attempts by the church to be more open about the problem of sex offending in the clergy. It said last weekend that it had substantiated 38 sexual abuse complaints during the last decade, although the cases complained of dated back to the 1950s.

The church in other countries, particularly the United States and Australia, has been rocked by sex abuse scandals.

The New Zealand bishops' move follows mounting calls in the Catholic community for more discussion and debate about the situation.

* The St John of God Order, which is embroiled in the scandal, has set up a toll-free hotline for people who have queries, or want to report alleged incidents.

Six new complainants have contacted the Australasian head of the order, Brother Peter Burke.

The free number for the order's Sydney headquarters is 0800-888-463.

See Saturday's Weekend Press for more on the crisis gripping the Church.