38 Cases of Sexual Abuse by Priests in New Zealand
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Once again, the Roman Catholic Church has delivered a public apology. Now, it's directed to sexual abuse victims in New Zealand.In a formal letter, New Zealand's bishops expressed "grief and shame" in regards to sexual abuse involving members of the clergy. "The deepening realization of the number of cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests is a cause of grief and shame to all of us," said the letter. "The betrayal of trust and the harm that has been done, especially to the young and the vulnerable fills us, your bishops, with a deep sense of sadness and betrayal."
"To those who are victims of abuse, and to their families, we express our deepest regret and most sincere apology."
The Church has confirmed 38 cases of sexual abuse by priests, brothers and lay church members going back over several decades.
The bishops have offered complete confidentiality for people who come forward with new allegations.
The Church is also promising to help complainants take the matter to the police if they want to.
The apology follows recent revelations by the Church about previously secret investigations and payouts by Church authorities.
The Church says it will no longer insist on confidentiality clauses in compensation deals with victims.
Some victims said the apology was too little, too late.
One man, identified only as Patrick, who received a secret $30,000 payout from a Catholic religious order after alleging sexual abuse has spurned the apology.
He told the New Zealand Herald, the church statements were "hollow words".
"It's not only me - it's affected so many people," he said.
"A lot of priests and a lot of brothers knew what was going on but they kept quiet about it - and that's wrong."
Patrick, now 51, was sent to Marylands, a Christchurch residential school for slow learners, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The school was run by the St John of God order. A Catholic "brother" sexually abused Patrick there, in an upstairs room.
The New Zealand Herald reported that when Patrick, as an adult went forward with the abuse allegations, St John of God responded by offering him $30,000 on condition he keep quiet about his claims.
The pedophile, Brother William Lebler, now in his 80s and living in Australia, has denied the allegations.
