Smith, a long-time voice for sexual abuse survivors, was sexually abused as a child while at John of God Brothers residential schools in both New Zealand and Australia.

Pleased that finally the children's cries for help that were ignored by the Church, the Police, the State and the people running Marylands are now public, Smith took the report to Rome.

The John of God Brothers are no longer active in New Zealand, but their headquarters remain in Rome. On Friday, Smith visited Fatebenefratelli - Curia Generalizia, 138 Via della Nocetta 263, with the hope of delivering the report directly.

Introducing himself over the Fatebenefratelli intercom, no one came to greet Smith and receive the report.

Hoping the brothers would read the report, he deposited it in the John of God Brothers letterbox.

"This is the head office and they do absolutely nothing but hide behind a bloody wall, I'm furious," he told Newshub.

Apologies aren't enough, Smith told Newshub.

"We're not going away, you can blank at us by not talking to us, you can shut the door and never let us in but it makes us stronger," he said.

And louder than ever.

Describing his years of schooling in New Zealand and Australia as "hell on earth", he says the Royal Commission's report means a lot to him.

"It means a lot, it means they can't bury it ever again. It's a government document, it can't be buried. It means a hell of a lot to me personally," he told Newshub.

This is the Dunedin resident's second trip to Rome.

Armed with a letter of introduction from Dunedin bishop, Michael Dooley, Smith hoped to meet personally with Pope Francis.

Smith was interviewed by the ABC but failed to meet the Pope.

Smith's first trip was in part funded personally by Dooley.

For his second trip, he approached the Christchurch diocese for help with his travel costs, however, while wishing him well the Bishop of Christchurch declined.

In a statement, the Christchurch diocese said Smith had previously been given support, redress payments and further support to attend a similar 2019 Rome summit.

Though Smith has received a compensation payment from the John of God Brothers, he told the ODT he was in Rome to demand accountability from Brs Joseph Smith and Brian O'Donnell, two church provincials who were at the head of the Order at the time of his abuse in the 1970s and '80s.

The Catholic Church had no honour and was "worse than any criminal" in the country, he said.

"I'm nearly 60 and I won't stop until I get what I want.

"I want justice, not only for myself — we're talking about real justice.

"It's pretty big for me to actually do all this stuff, but I have to do it.

"I have to make sure they're held accountable," Mr Smith said.

Smith is in Rome also to attend an international survivor meeting at which he will be an ambassador for all New Zealand abuse survivors.

The survivor meeting coincides with the first stage of Pope Francis' Synod on Synodality.

Sources

• Newshub
• ODT
• CathNews NZ

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Darryl Smith (pictured) was one of dozens of boys who suffered "extreme abuse and neglect" at Marylands School. Complaints show the school's abusive reign ran from 1955 to the late 1980s.

Now 59, Smith is raising money to go to an international summit for sexual assault survivors in Rome next month.

He's scrimped and saved, and has a Givealittle account to help cover his costs. He also approached the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch for help.

"Unfortunately, the diocese is declining the opportunity to raise money for your trip," the diocese replied.

Smith says the diocese's response is two-faced.

Request and response

Smith says the diocese promised to ensure the abuse wouldn't happen again.

It also said it would help survivors.

"They lied," Smith says.

He made the comment after approaching the diocese recently for help to attend an upcoming summit as an ambassador for all New Zealand abuse survivors.

However, in a statement, the Christchurch diocese said Smith had previously been given support, redress payments and further support to attend a similar 2019 Rome summit.

The bishops wish him well, the statement concluded.

In 2019, Smith flew to Rome after receiving personal financial assistance from Dunedin bishop Michael Dooley, who also gave him a letter of introduction to meet Pope Francis.

While in Rome, Smith was interviewed by the ABC but failed to meet the Pope.

Disappointment

Smith is disappointed his request to the Christchurch diocese was refused.

He said he hoped to be an ambassador for all New Zealand survivors of abuse and meet others at the conference to discuss progress being made about sexual abuse in different countries, share ideas and consider ways to work toward continued change in the Catholic Church.

He had planned to take the Marylands School report with him to share with other survivors.

He said at the last summit, he found it healing to meet survivors from around the world and exchange stories.

He explained that he felt he got some of his power back by being there.

Despite the Royal Commission of Inquiry process being "scary", Smith says he feels very positive about what the Abuse in Care report found.

The Royal Commission identified multiple failures, including those made by the Police, the State and Marylands, and the Christchurch diocese.

Source

• The Press

Archbishop Peter Loy Chong was responding to a news report on TVNZ by pacific correspondent, Barbara Dreaver.

For the last year, 1 NEWS has been investigating claims of historic sexual abuse against children in Fiji's Catholic church.

Dreaver was in Fiji just before lockdown and spoke to a number of Fijians who say as children they were abused and raped by New Zealand and Australian priests, brothers and teachers.

In making his apology Chong said:

"First and foremost, I empathise with people who are victims of sexual abuse."

"I empathise with their hurt, anger, trauma and feelings.

I empathise with the pain that victims and their families have experienced and continue to experience.

I empathise with the brokenness they have to live with and affect the way they relate to others.

As head of the Fiji Catholic Church, I feel ashamed with the behaviour of our church personnel.

I feel angry. There is a heaviness in my heart yesterday and today.

My first reaction was not to want (to) talk to the media.

On behalf of the Catholic Church in Fiji, I express our remorse for past failures and extend our sincere regret and deep sympathy to peoples-victims of sexual abuse.

The Church apologises unreservedly for any abuse perpetrated by clergy or religious. Sexual abusers have failed the ‘Sixth Commandment' - You must not commit adultery."

Listen to the Archbishop's apology.

The Fiji Sun reported that the archbishop also said:

"Sexual abuse is a serious problem in our society, not only in Catholic Church.

On behalf of the Catholic Church I apologise to victims of abuse, to their families, and to Fijian society - for the hurts inflicted on them by some of our priests, brothers and lay workers," he said.

"The overwhelming number of priests and religious are faithful men and women who share the horror and grief that all people feel when sexual abuse is brought to light."

"The procedures the Archdiocese of Suva follows today represent a serious and genuine effort to help victims of abuse and to eradicate sexual abuse from the Church.

We continue to work to learn from past experience and from the experience of victims to ensure that the danger of sexual abuse is prevented in the future."

"For the Church and for the Archdiocese of Suva, prevention, justice and healing for victims of sexual abuse always come first."

TVNZ reports that the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in care is seeking information about New Zealand priests and other religious perpetrators who were moved to the Pacific.

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
• fijisun,com
• fijivillage.com
• Image: fijivillage.com

Author Mike Ledingham​ welcomed Wednesday's announcement that Crown agencies would lift confidentiality obligations on State care abuse survivors.

Simon Mount QC, counsel assisting the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, said he expected churches to follow suit. Read more

"We were blocked by the Swiss Guard who dismissed the letter from Bishop Dooley", writes Spokesman for the Auckland-based Network of Survivors of Abuse in Faith-based Institutions, Dr Murray Heasley.

Heasley is in Rome with Smith.

Writing on Facebook, Heasley reports,"They looked at us as if we were crazy, even thinking such a meeting was possible".

Heasley says the Swiss Guard told them that to get an audience with the Pope they had to follow a long and time-consuming protocol.

"It was of no importance that a survivor be given priority in Survivor Week, despite a 40 hour flight from Dunedin", he wrote.

After a demonstration in St Peter's Square with massive international media attendance, (pictured) Smith was interviewed by ABC (Australia).

Smith flew to Rome with a letter of introduction from Dunedin bishop, The Most Reverend Michael Dooley.

Dooley also helped pay for his trip.

Speaking at Auckland Airport before his departure on Tuesday night, Smith said he was both excited and nervous ahead of his long flight.

He expected the nerves would be joined by a feeling of anger as he finally met with church officials at the Vatican.

"It depends what they have to say. If they're negative, I'll tell them what I think of them.

"It's going to be quite a big step to go and see these people and actually talk to them," Smith said.

This last weeks some 190 participants, including New Zealand's Cardinal John Dew, were in Rome at the request of Pope Francis to discuss the sexual abuse crisis engulfing the church.

Sources

• Facebook - Dr Murray Heasley
• CathNews
• Meeting the Protection of Minors in the Church

The Nashville native wants to do her part to protect children in her diocese and help other victims and their families overcome some of that animosity she knows well.

So, Harper said yes more than 15 years ago when then-Nashville Bishop Edward Kmiec asked her to join the diocese's review board.

At the time, the church was putting the panels in place at dioceses across the U.S. as part of the Catholic Church's response to its national clergy sex abuse crisis.

Today, new allegations of abuse and cover-up are once again shaking the global church, putting its measures for child protection and leadership accountability under the microscope.

The local review boards are among those measures.

The panels advise their bishops on allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests and examine related policies.

These non-investigatory bodies are made up of mostly lay people and include an experienced pastor as well as an expert on the treatment of child sex abuse.

The abuse of her child

Harper, a member of the Nashville diocese's board since its inception, said Kmiec tapped her to serve because she is the parent of a victim.

"I had been very vocal and cranky," Harper said. "I wrote a note to Bishop Kmiec who had been very kind to just take my animosity and apologized."

At the time, Harper felt the diocese had protected the priest who she says abused her child. He previously worked at the church she used to attend with her family.

The abuse allegation came out years later, prompted by the 1999 arrest of former priest Edward R. McKeown, who is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a teenage boy.

The crime McKeown pleaded guilty to in 1999 occurred after he left the priesthood in 1989.

But at the time of his sentencing, the prosecutor in the case told The Tennessean that it was part of a pattern of abuse involving some 30 boys over more than two decades, and the diocese knew about some of the allegations but did not tell the police.

Harper said her child, who was an adult at the time of McKeown's arrest, admitted to being one of his victims after she brought up their past relationship. Her child agreed to file a police report and eventually sought therapy.

The more details Harper learned, the more upset she became.

Leaving the parish not the church

As time passed, Harper stayed Catholic but realized she needed a new church home. She followed her spiritual director, who helped her process what happened, to St. Patrick Catholic Church in Nashville.

Harper is not a cradle Catholic. She converted in 1964 while in junior high and thinks that is part of why she stayed because she chose the Catholic Church instead of being born into it.

The church's teachings in support of social justice and fairness continue to resonate with her, too. She knows clergy wrongdoing and church cover-ups go against the faith.

"If everyone would adhere to the theology and the doctrine, we'd be better off," Harper said. "So, I stay with the theology and the basic teachings and pray for healing."

She still worries about her child, who has largely fallen away from the church but is doing well and surrounded by a strong support system. Continue reading