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The Press
February 17, 2004
Woman's case against Church heads to High Court
The
case of a Christchurch woman suing the Catholic Church over its handling of a
complaint against a priest will go to the High Court next month.
Bonnie Quilter, a Shirley invalid beneficiary, is seeking exemplary damages and
an inquiry into the Church's abuse complaints procedures.
She is one of four women who laid complaints of sexual misconduct against
former Lyttelton priest Father Jim Consedine.
She claims the Church failed in its duty of care towards her and did not keep
proper records of the complaints process.
It is believed to be the first time one of the Church's own investigative
bodies has been sued over its performance in
The Church and its various representatives named as defendants have applied to
have the claim struck out through their counsel, Judith
A telephone conference was held between the parties and Justice John Hansen
yesterday.
A hearing date was set for next month.
"Procedural matters were dealt with during the telephone conference and a
hearing date set," Ms Quilter said. "I hope matters will progress
accordingly."
The Catholic diocese of
The fifth defendant is vicar-general Monsignor Gerald O'Connor.
A sixth, the Attorney-General, is no longer a defendant.
Ms Quilter's civil action relies on the little-known Catholic Bishops
Empowering Act 1997, which establishes bishops as single legal entities.
Fr Consedine resigned from his Lyttelton parish at the Bishop's request last
June and was then stripped of all powers, except for administering the last
rites to the dying.
The Church accepted complaints from the three other women as credible.
Ms Quilter met Fr Consedine as a chaplain at Christchurch Women's Prison when
she was an inmate in 1987. She claims he later started acting over-familiarly,
making lewd suggestions and touching her bottom while hugging.
In late 2002, during a three-hour mediation, Fr Consedine apologised to Ms
Quilter "for any hurt he may have inflicted".
The Bishop's lawyers have said that the apology was not an acceptance or
acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
Fr Consedine's stepping down from his parish had nothing to do with Ms Quilter,
they said.
In response to a request for documents, Church lawyers told Ms Quilter that the
Lyttelton Presbytery had been burgled and all documents relating to her case
stolen.
They were the only items taken from the safe and no other records existed.