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Allegations
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Money from a Catholic
Order is being used to hire a private investigator to track errant priests
and brothers. The search is being
driven by five men who claim they were abused as boys by clergy visiting
their Christchurch orphanage run by the Sisters of Nazareth. They are hiring a
private eye to find the alleged offenders using compensation money about to
be paid by the nuns. The five claim they
were abused by unidentified priests or brothers who visited St Joseph's
Orphanage in Halswell to take Mass and hear confessions in the 1950s and
1960s. They are among 20 men
and women who claim they were abused while growing up in Christchurch
orphanages under the sisters' care. It is the second group to undergo
mediation with the Nazareth nuns, ending in a financial settlement. One of the men, who
wanted to be known only as David, said putting names to the faces of the
clergy visitors was paramount. "It is important
to bring them to justice and to help me understand what has happened in my
life from that point," he said. David, 48, was sent to
St Joseph's in the late 1960s when his family broke up. He alleges he was raped
by two men, one of them a priest who had heard confessions in the days
leading up to the incident. The identity of the second man is unknown. Patrick McPherson, the
lawyer for the 20 complainants, said the sisters have been unable to provide
the names of clergy who attended the former orphanage. Neither could the
overseeing Catholic diocese. "The diocese has
refused to disclose which priests were saying Mass, hearing confessions and
attending the orphanage through those years," said McPherson. The private
investigator will work under McPherson's direction and has already met the
five men. The nuns hired a
private investigator earlier to interview and check the complainants'
authenticity, prior to settlement. Another Order, St John of God, has been
criticised for having a "you say it and we pay it" policy,
regarding complaints from men who attended its former residential boys school,
Marylands. Nazareth nuns'
solicitor Lee Robinson said they recognised the five wanted to track the
identities of the alleged offenders and respected their wishes. "The sisters are
aware that part of the funds may be put for that purpose," said
Robinson. "We can't have any control over that really. From the sisters'
perspective, they recognise that these complainants want closure." The sisters did not
know the identity of the clergy visitors and most of the nuns who ran St
Joseph's at the time were now believed to be dead, said Robinson. "The
sisters can't really take it any further," he said. Last year 14 women and
three men confronted the sisters with allegations of physical abuse while in
their care at Nazareth House and St Joseph's home from the 1930s to the
1960s. The claimants received
apologies for their "unhappy experiences" and gifts of cars,
overseas trips and home appliances, as part of an undisclosed settlement. Some had their
mortgages and other debts repaid. A fund was set up to cover future medical
expenses as the claimants age. An assessment committee
has also been established -- comprising a member of the order, psychologist
and social worker -- to deal with any other issues arising from former
orphanage residents. In Australia, the order has paid about $NZ1.7 million to former residents of a Brisbane orphanage. Victims alleged they were raped by nuns and priests and forced to eat faeces while in the orphanage's care in the 1950s and 1960s. Settlements reportedly ranged from $46,000 to $86,000. The sisters did not admit wrongdoing. |
