Institutional allegations
prominent this year in NZ and abroad have applied to Anglicans, Catholics
and non-denominational children's residential institutions.
In this one year,
following a prolonged phase of historical sexual allegations, not all
allegations, including religious-related ones, are false (or true):
they are likely to have a range from quite false to quite true.
Opinion as to where
the weight of the Catholic cases falls, for example, is divided, with
some asserting that most of the allegations against priests etc. in
the Catholic church are true - even if only recently-highlighted - rather
than false 'recovered memories', while others think that false sex allegations
amongst those made are likely to be high, if not predominant.
Fr Kevin Neal, a
priest in Stratford, a farming town in Taranaki (and elsewhere he quotes
Dorothy Day, a founder of the Catholic Worker Movement 1933), says:
"There is a tendency to say that we'll all come out of this bigger,
better, brighter, stronger. That may not be what the victims want to
hear right now. " - (in Original sins - "The Catholic Church in New
Zealand is now facing its demons of hidden sexual abuse and cruelty.
But is the church hierarchy properly sorry, and what explains this dark
history of dysfunction and denial?" NZ Listener 3/8/02 16-21).
Following is a collection
of a range of headlines and items to hand.
New Zealand
and Australia
Sydney Morning
Herald
Easy targets
picked to pay for the sins of others. By Padraic P. Mcguiness. 4/6/02,
News and Features p 11.
In relation to
sex abuse allegations there is a targeting of the hierarchy for what
they have not done, this writer says, making "one�wonder about the ulterior
motives involved". The experience of most of Catholics active about
30 years ago "rarely encompass any perceptions of such abuse," although
cases must have happened. This leads him to wonder how much of this
is in the "perfervid imaginations of those who perceive organised religion
as the enemy". He refers to the world movement stemming from the 60s
hippie era, with its more liberal attitudes to sex, and how the pendulum
has swung strongly the other way.
Christchurch
Star
Violent crime
fall continues. By Donna Birkett 4/9/02 p A7. The report said Canterbury's
reported sexual attacks were "up from '211 in 2000 to 292 in 2001",
but its violent crime figures were down compared to NZ's as a result
of Canterbury police targeting source problem areas.
Superintendent
Sandra Manderson said "a situation like the St John of God issue increased
sex attack figures". Possibly this could mean allegations there accounted
for the increase, but in terms of public knowledge that particular group
began in early 2002, after the data period.
The Press, Christchurch
Catholic sex
abuse? News to me. By Mike Crean. 3/7/02 p A13.
This was a direct
statement from a former altar boy and pupil of St Bede's (Catholic boys)
secondary school, now one of the paper's leading journalists. He had
heard of no sexual abuse in the circles he had moved in, and if it had
occurred "I would be deeply shocked to hear of it".
Catholic allegations
- letters. 3/7/02 p A12.
Various letters,
including these remarks:
� I am appalled
and dismayed that Catholic churchmen have corrupted innocence �
� I am equally
appalled at the way The Press has almost gleefully feasted on the
woes of both victims and offenders. Continual front-page headlines,
two pages in last Saturday's Mainlander section, with treatment that
is emotive, one-sided and speculative. After all, who are journalists
to presume the role of social psychologists?
Cate Brett,
Muriel Porter, and Geoff Collett all overstep their mark as factual
reporters. What real basis is there for the insistence that male celibacy
in the priesthood and religious life breeds sexual abuse?
Can paedophilia
be "caused" by sexual abstinence? Really? Faulty logic, surely - and
worse, persuasive opinionated journalism.
What about
the vast majority of priests and religious who lead wholesome socially
contributing lives?
New low for
Australian church. 22/8/02 p A9; also Sydney Morning Herald.
Colleagues backed
the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney [Dr George Pell] against a former
altar boy's allegations.
Difficult
time - bishop. 'Enormous cross to carry'. Australia focus, from
AAP. 22/8/02 p B2.
Catholic Bishop
George Pell has stepped aside from his job, pending an inquiry into
allegations that he sexually molested a young boy in 1961. He said the
allegations were false and would be vigorously defended. Brisbane's
Archbishop John Bathersby said the church would take a long time to
recover from the controversy.
Rape allegation.
28/8/02 p B2.
Nuns at Nazareth
House in Brisbane, an orphanage, allegedly 'raped children and forced
them to eat faeces, rotting food and their own vomit'. A woman in her
late 50s � came forward to tell of her experiences at Wynnum on Brisbane's
eastside� Lizzie Walsh, as she was known as a child [said] she was subjected
to violence for seven years. � she was raped by a nun with a flagstick
"to get the devil out" while the other nuns turned a blind eye to her
being raped by two different priests � .
Pope's plea
on deviants. Celibacy 'vital tradition'. By Yvonne Martin. 7/9/02
p A6.
The Pope told
the Catholic Church it had to be more careful screening out prospective
priests with deviant desires. New Zealand's Communications Director
Lyndsey Freer said the Pope was presumably talking about homosexuals,
as well as paedophiles. She said non-practising gay men are seen as
morally 'neutral', and they take a vow of celibacy. The Pope said candidates
had to be screened "above all from the standard point of morals and
affections". Those who should never be ordained included "[the] young,
immature or those with obvious signs of deviation in their affections.
[They] can cause grave deviations in the consciences of the faithful".
Celibacy should be seen as part of the vital tradition of the priest
giving his life unconditionally to God.
Nuns on the
run. By Yvonne Martin. 14/9/02 p D4.
A woman said
she was tortured by the Sisters of Nazareth at a Christchurch girls'
orphanage and wants them to pay. Others say she is driven by greed,
not grief. The big article was with historical class photos of an assembly
of 80 well-presented girls, and of a confirmation class of 36 very-well-presented
girls.
Apology praised
- letter. 14/9/02, p D2.
This letter said
the 'Knights of the Southern Cross of New Zealand (Inc)' recognised
the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand's expression of sorrow for the sins
of some clergy, but that as most priests, brothers and sisters 'do great
work and make great sacrifices, current media reports and coverage are
failing to be balanced'.
Abuse focus
of conference. By Yvonne Martin 18/9/02 A4.
99 canon lawyers
met in Christchurch for the Canon Law Society of Australia's 36th annual
conference. Executive member Fr Anthony Malone of Auckland said the
focus would be on each case assessed on its merits, and the process
would not overlook the rights of victims and families. President Fr
Robert McGuckin said this was an occasion for a renewal of the Church
that 'we're all part of'.
Claimed abuse
just 'discipline'. 27/9/02 p A2.
Sister Bernard
Mary, responding to allegations of abusing children at the orphanage
she ran in the 1940s and 1950s in Brisbane, said that following police
inquiries that she had no case to answer, according to her order. The
accusers' allegations included being raped by nuns and priests. Sister
Bernard Mary said her actions at the time would have included maintaining
discipline, where 'A child might get a slap sometimes, same as I did
when I was growing up'.
Nazareth House
- letter. 30/9/02, p A8.
Expressing outrage
at the allegations against Nazareth house nuns, the writer, in the US,
said they had cared well for everybody, and the accusations should be
dropped. 17 claim abuse at Kingslea. By Kelly Andrew 8/10/02 A1. A total
of 17 young people at the non-denominational Kingslea Residential Centre,
Christchurch, have said they were sexually or physically abused in the
last 18 months. One 16-year old girl's complaint was upheld after investigation.
Residential services manager Alan Geraghty said he was only aware of
the one case of prosecution, and that was of a young person, and he
was not aware of any staff members being charged in a serious complaint.
Most incidents involved petty rivalries or resentment, and things like
swearing at each other, or pressuring others to smuggle in cigarettes.
The information was in response to questions in Parliament by ACT's
Muriel Newman.
Consedine
sent for therapy. Yvonne Martin 19/10/02 pA3.
Fr Jim Consedine
was relieved of his parish ministry at St Joseph's in Lyttelton because
of allegations against him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, some going
back to the 1970s, involving 4 women. He went to "Encompass" in Australia;
but the city's STOP group asked to treat him.
Group action
urged against church order. By Yvonne Martin 22/10/02 p A2.
"Prominent Christchurch
lawyer Justin Richardson" was working with 20 alleged victims involving
the St John of God Order, to seek group action rather than use the church's
Bro Burke. Ken Clearwater, Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, advised
them to continue with Burke.
St John of
God hires retired judge to review handling of sex abuse complaints.
By Yvonne Martin. 31/10/02 p A4.
Sir Rodney Gallen,
who has overseen "a number of huge enquiries in New Zealand", has been
hired to review and "audit the sex abuse complaint review process thus
far and to advise on how we propose to resolve each case individually",
in the Australasian order St John of God. About 70 men claim they were
abused as boys by brothers of the order, who ran the former Marylands
residential schools in Christchurch. Sir Rodney had presided over the
investigation of alleged ill-treatment and sexual abuse at former Lake
Alice [mental] Hospital, by staff and other patients. $6.5 million and
a Government apology were given out for that in 2001, 'for abuse suffered
in the 1970s'.
Sunday Star-Times
Accusations
sadden nun. Deidre Mussen, 6/10/02 p A2.
Sister Bernard
Mary, 69, says the Nazareth House complainants have convinced themselves
the incidents they recite, happened, and denies abusing children. She
said the allegations saddened her rather than made her angry. When she
first heard them, 3 years ago, she had been the congregation's worldwide
head in England. The police there recommended dropping the case, which
she said was not surprising as the allegations were so outrageous, and
some were impossible. As to discipline, she said that with 50 or 60
children, it had to be kept. The order has paid out nearly $2 million,
with apologies to some alleged victims, but denying any abuse occurred.
Ireland
Gov't responds to abuse allegations. From
irishhealth.com at http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=4336.
By
Deborah Condon
This site shows
that various actions are underway. Health Minister Micheal Martin said
a process under a Senior Counsel, George Bermingham, that was started
last April, has led to a format for a non-statutory inquiry into 'paedophile
priest Fr Sean Fortune', Diocese of Ferns. It is to be a panel of three
chaired by a former Supreme court Judge, Mr Justice Frank Murphy. A
decision whether to establish an inquiry into allegations of clerical
sexual abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese was about to be made. An Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern ['An Taoiseach' appears to be Gaelic for the 'Prime Minister'
of Ireland] appealed to anyone with information on clerical sexual abuse
to contact the Gardai [police]), proclaiming "the law of the land applies
to all, irrespective of what status they hold".
Canada
'Who is telling
the truth?' National Post 2/3/02
A particular
individual, with challenging behaviour, is pursuing a $64m civil action
against Upper Canada College Old Boys school - the principal and the
person at the centre of the case, Doug Brown, a former teacher. The
man and nine others have accused individuals of molesting them when
they were students in the 1970s.
Judge throws
out lawsuits against Anglican Church seeking redress for abuse.
Globe & Mail 25/10/02 p A15.
On a technicality,
a Calgary judge has thrown out lawsuits against the Anglican Church
of Canada from alleged victims of physical and sexual abuse over when
they attended residential schools in Alberta and Northwest Territories,
but the ruling leaves the federal government on the hook.
Last year the
federal government created a government department, called the Indian
Residential Schools Resolution of Canada, with status to deal with the
claims; the cost of this was expected to be in the region of $1 billion.
A Judge McMahon has been made 'case' manager. However, now a national
class-action lawsuit has been launched, seeking compensation for 91,000
people - and their families. There have been out of court settlements
and other programs involving about 1000 people from across Canada, settlements
averaging $100,000.
United States
The Vatican
Rag. By Maureen Dowd. New York Times. 24/3/ 02.
"The Holy Father
released a Holy Thursday letter with brief remarks about the plague
of perversity ravaging the Catholic Church.� But he did not write the
letter or read it aloud, and its main topic was penance. Apparently,
the Vatican thinks penance is for other people�. The few sentences about
the pedophilia scandal were more sympathetic to the put-upon priests
than mauled victims" - just some of her scathing words on the pope's
letter.
The latest
priest-scandal scapegoat. By Terry Golway http://www.Salon.com
29/3/02.
Indicating the
level of acrimony in at least one part of the US, Golway defends Maureen
Dowd, alleging that the Catholic League had smeared her over her piece
in the New York Times (it is referred to above).
Golway said that
blaming "activist, feminist and gay groups" who "gained power in the
church since the 1960s" for the priest sex-allegations scandal, as Pennsylvania
religious studies professor Philip Jenkins had, was nonsense. Jenkins
had also said the scandal was related to those activists taking on the
hierarchy, and that this approach was being encouraged by the media
which itself profited by hyping the priest sex story, because of "American
fascination with clerical scandal". Jenkins also had apparently said
liberal Catholics were using the crisis to push their agenda "especially
their goal of ending the tradition of an all-male, celibate priesthood."
Golway, a liberal
catholic, emotionally tried to claim that conservative Catholics also
wanted their leadership called to account "for its responsibility in
covering up and thus worsening the priest-sex scandal".
Priest 'very
thrilled to be back'. Elmhurst pastor's lawyer denies bullying.
Maureen O'Donnell Chicago Sun-Times 10/6/02
A priest who
forcefully defended himself against sexual misconduct allegations was
welcomed back to his Elmhurst parish 'with tears, applause and hugs',
and some parishioners 'wore yellow ribbons to show their support'. A
month before, when first accused and removed from the ministry, Rev
John F. Barrett had held a news conference, becoming the first Chicago-area
priest to wage a public campaign to defend himself. His reinstatement
as pastor of Mary Queen of Heaven Church came after an investigation
by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet found the allegations against
him unsubstantiated.
Fighting Back,
Accused Priests Charge Slander. By Sam Dillon New York Times 25/8/02.
Paul Eichoff,
forced to leave his Tulsa parish in August 2002, pending an investigation
of sexual abuse accusations against him, has filed a suit in the county
court saying he had been slandered.
Priests in at
least three other Roman Catholic dioceses - Oklahoma City, St Louis
and Cleveland - had also started proceedings to use the civil courts
to strike at accusers. A fifth priest, Rev Anthony Eremito, has used
a church tribunal, in the Diocese of Trenton, by lodging a defamation
action under canon law. This one was against a fellow priest, the Rev
John Bambrick, who in April 2002 had asserted publicly allegations that
he had been abused as a teenager by Father Eremito in New York.
'Hundreds of
priests' have been accused this year. Some are using anti-defamation
laws to defend themselves against accusers who make unwarranted allegations,
but some advocates for victims were depicting this as bullying designed
to frighten Catholics back to silence.
Catholic priests
sue accusers in civil court over allegations of sexual abuse. By
Rachel Zoll, Associated Press, Religion Writer, 30/8/02.
This item adds
Orange County, California, and Trenton, N.J., to the list of dioceses
where priests have filed defamation lawsuits. While the victims allege
the priests molested them as children, the priests say they are false
accusations.
Rev. Robert Silva,
National Federation of Priests' Councils, which claims about half of
the 46,000 priests in the US as members, said "Child sexual abuse -
that's an unconscionable crime and sin. The defamation of character
of a good priest, that's a crime as well". Clergymen taking the defamation
approach were a small share compared to the number, at least 300, who
resigned or were suspended this year over sex abuse allegations.
Michelle Goldberg
a journalist at "Salon" magazine (http://www.salon.com/, "40,000 subscribers")
on 30/8/02 invited any 'falsely accused priests' to contact her for
a proposed story about the subject.
She wrote: "with
all the hysteria � it seems monstrously difficult for anyone accused
to salvage their reputations, no matter how baseless the charges against
them."
COSA supplied
our basic details to her without specifying any response on priest accusers
or accused. She supplied her email - [email protected], and her number,
718-935-9816.
A search of the
Salon site on 9-Nov-02 shows a tendency for the preference of the salacious
'true' story; but none of the numerous stories is authored by Michelle
Goldberg.
Former nun
files lawsuit alleging abuse by nuns. Associated Press, 11/10/02.
A nun, a 'district-based
education expert', has sued two Roman Catholic schools in Kentucky,
alleging she was sexually abused by three nuns there during the 1950s,
at the Villa Madonna Academy at St. Walburg Monastery of Benedictine
Sisters. The suit was not brought earlier "because it took her years
of psychotherapy to recover memories of the abuse". An attorney for
the defendant institutions said they have been unable to substantiate
any of the allegations and will contest the lawsuit.
How existing
state religious freedom restoration acts may be used to help cover up
clergy child abuse, and why states considering rfras should think again.
By Marci Hamilton, FindLaw's Legal Commentary 07/11/02.
'rfras' stands
for Religious Freedom Restoration Acts'.
There is a push
in some states in the US for a new law about religious protection or
restoration. Hamilton, a legal advocate, states her opposition to this
trend, because of its potential for use in 'hiding' priestly abusers,
as she sees it. Canon Law needs to be subject to secular laws, so as
it does not work as an escape valve over time-limitations.
~
Defeated
at the ballot box, a Massachusetts candidate for governor catches the
winner's party, dressed to fight
Independent
'outsider' Barbara C Johnson stood for the governorship of Massachusetts
in the recent elections. Her platform was used to draw attention to
issues or to ask for:
- equal
rights of fathers in custody and visitation actions,
- protection
of all parents in cases of false accusations of child abuse and
domestic violence,
- shared
parenting, and
- problems
with adoption and unfair termination of parental rights,
- an
investigation of the Department of Social Services.
Johnson
and two others each scored under 5% of the vote, Johnson's share being
1%. The governorship was won by Republican Mitt Romney. Johnson, who
used a fire fire-truck to get attention in her campaign, showed up at
the winner's party in an oversized fireman's jacket, still at the ready
to fight fires. - " For Johnson, a 2-party night". Boston Globe Online
11/6/02.