New Zealand’s Catholic bishops issued a Pastoral Letter on 17 November 2024 after the Prime Minister delivered his apology to victims and survivors of abuse in care. However, survivors of Catholic Church clergy and religious abuse are bewildered by the claims made in that Letter.

One of the striking differences between the public apology given by the Prime Minister and the bishops’ Letter is that the Prime Minister was clear when he distinguished between “us” “you,” and “them,” says the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Instead, the bishops’ Letter was addressed to church attendees and focused mainly on the bishops’ alleged response to abuse.

General comments such as “we have met with many survivors” lacked proof. “How many is ‘many’? Two or three?” asked Barbara Taylor, a survivor-support worker for SNAP Aotearoa.

SNAP’s New Zealand chapter is over-represented by survivors of Catholic clergy and religious abuse and none of them, most of whom are victims of clerical child sexual assault, were ever contacted by a Catholic bishop. SNAP received over 1000 contacts from victims and survivors in 2024. Not one ever mentioned being met with or listened to by a Catholic bishop. According to SNAP, even when survivors reached out to the bishops, they were either ignored or met with empty words at most.

Therefore, survivors question the bishops’ statements and ask if figures could be provided to back up their claims.

Instead, the bishops use their National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) to receive complaints. However, the experiences shared by survivors who went to NOPS and then came to SNAP is that NOPS did not provide the support they hoped for. NOPS has even instructed lawyers to threaten survivors into silence or have their complaints dismissed, according to the survivors network.

SNAP asks: Where is the “ongoing commitment to meet with and listen to survivors”?

SNAP reports that on one occasion Palmerston North Catholic Bishop John Adams wrote a survivor saying: “I wanted to offer my pastoral and spiritual support to you” while simultaneously he was overseeing the shut down by NOPS of the survivor’s complaints without the required investigative work being completed.

The bishops also stated in their Letter: “We cannot change the past, but we can shape our future.” However, ignoring the present suffering of survivors, denying justice behind closed doors today, and misleading the New Zealand people today does not bode well for the shape of that future.

One comment in the bishops’ Letter did ring true. The bishops wrote that they honour the survivors’ courage. Let's hope that in 2025 survivors will feel safer to speak up about their traumas at the hands of Catholic Church leaders without needing so much courage.

SNAP asks all people of goodwill to believe and support and survivors. They deserve so much better.

© Scoop Media