The extent of alleged abuse reported within the Catholic Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, was first known through extensive research undertaken by the Church at the request of the Royal Commission into Abuse in cares.

A total of 1,680 reports of abuse have been made by 1,122 people against Catholic clergy, brothers, nuns, sisters, and laity from 1950 to the present, with 592 alleged abusers named. Nearly half of the reported abuse involved sexual abuse. The 1960s and 1970s were the decades with the most abuse reported, with 75% predating 1990.

The results of this research were commissioned and provided to the Royal Commission. The definition of abuse used is that used by the commission and includes reports of sexual, physical, emotional, psychological abuse and neglect.

The research was undertaken by Te Rōpū Tautoko, the group that coordinates the Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission. Te Rōpū Tautoko encourages anyone who has experienced abuse in the custody of the Church to contact the police, the Royal Commission, the Church agency responsible for handling reports of abuse (the National Occupational Standards, or NOPS), or one of the many support groups and networks that exist for survivors.

Te Rōpū Tautoko researched and reviewed documents as part of a project to collect information from the country’s six Catholic dioceses and 43 Catholic religious congregations (also called religious institutes, orders or associations). The search included records from 428 Catholic parishes, 370 Catholic schools and 67 other care facilities. Findings include:

• Of the 1,274 Catholic diocesan clergy (those working under a bishop, not for a congregation) who have worked in New Zealand since 1950, 378 reports have been made on 182 (14%) of these clergy.
• Of the 2,286 male congregation members (brothers and priests belonging to a congregation) who have worked here since 1950, 599 reports have been made, or 187 (8%) of them.
• Of the 4,247 female members of the congregation (sisters or nuns) who have worked here since 1950, 258 reports have been made, about 120 of them, or 3%.
• A total of 138 abuse allegations were made against 103 mostly lay staff, volunteers and similar people involved with the Church.
• Of the 1,680 complaints, 1,350 involved children and 164 involved adults, with the age of another 167 not established by research. Of the 1,680, almost half (835) were reports of child sexual abuse. Of this total, 687 are for educational institutions, 425 for residential care, 228 for parishes and 122 for other places. 219 others were in unidentified locations.

Te Rōpū Tautoko acknowledges that the records will not represent all abuses that have occurred in the custody of the Catholic Church, as the research only covers recorded reports. Not all reports of alleged abuse uncovered during the research resulted in police complaints or criminal convictions. Not all reports were confirmed at the time they were made, or subsequently, but many were.

Not all of the alleged attackers have been identified – 308 of the reports were of unidentified people. A total of 1,296 reports involved 592 named alleged abusers. Of those 592, 393 had one report about them, 143 had two to four reports, 40 had five to nine, 10 had 10 to 14, and six had 15 or more. These six individuals accounted for more than 10% of all reports of alleged abuse.

Catherine Fyfe, president of Te Rōpū Tautoko, said, “Church leaders are committed to transparency. In accordance with this principle, we have published this information now, as soon as the related work is completed. It is important to note that the extent of reports of abuse in the Aotearoa Catholic Church in New Zealand has not been collated to date. The information-gathering project was a major exercise involving dozens of people over two years, including the search for 70-year-old paper records from hundreds of locations.

Sister Margaret Anne Mills, President of the Congregational Leaders Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand (representing Catholic religious orders and similar entities), says: “Each piece of data represents the lives of many people. Much of it represents terrible harm done by one person to another. We can never forget it. Participating in the healing of this evil, as far as possible, is and must continue to be our objective. All Church leaders must urgently understand and recognize our common history; understand and recognize the shocking impact of church abuse on victims and their families; understand what this means for survivors and our faith communities; and take action today.

Cardinal John Dew, President of the New Zealand Conference of Catholic Bishops, says: “These statistics on abuse in the Catholic Church dating back to 1950 are horrific and we are deeply ashamed of them. I am grateful that so much work has been done to research the details and make them public. As we continue to respond to the Royal Commission on Abuse and build a safer Church for all, I strongly hope that facts like these will help us face the sad reality. The Church will draw lessons from this and affirm its commitment to the work of safeguarding.

The publication of the research comes shortly before the Royal Commission begins hearings which will investigate the events at Marylands School in Christchurch. The Marylands was a boarding school for boys, many of whom were disabled, run from the 1950s to 1984 by the Friars of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. The commission is also looking into any abuse by the brothers at Hebron Trust, a Christchurch facility for at-risk youth run by one of the brothers, and abuse by the brothers in Marylands against residents of the nearby St Joseph’s Orphanage run by the Sisters of Nazaré.

A total of 236 abuse reports relate to the Marylands School and the Hebron Trust. This represents 14 percent of all abuse complaints compiled in the research. The three most prolific offenders worked at Marylands, and the most prolific offender went on to establish the Hebron Trust. A further 239 reports of abuse (also 14% of the total) relate to St. Joseph’s Orphanage and Nazareth House, Christchurch. Half of these reports do not identify an offender.

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