This was Bill Kilgallon, a New Zealander who sat on the Commission's first term.

He says the achievements include the establishment of the body itself.

It brought together people from different professional backgrounds from all around the world.

Mr Kilgallon chaired a working group dealing with guidelines.

It started with those for the prevention of and response to sexual abuse in the Church.

He says the completion of templates for guidelines to help bishops' conferences around the world is "a very significant piece of work."

He lists other achievements as recommendations on changes to Church law and practice.

These set out how to deal with complaints of abuse, time limits for abuse cases and a better definition of a "vulnerable adult."

Mr Kilgallon says priests in training now undergo more safeguarding. And there is greater screening before recruitment.

Other working groups dealt with how the Church should listen to the voices of survivors.

"So there were some significant achievements, but it was very much at the beginning of work at the Commission," he says.

At the end of the Commission's first term, Mr Kilgallon says work had begun on issues such as how to deal with offenders in the Church and how to respond to children of priests.

Commission frustrations

But he can also talk about frustrations.

Far from being helpful, he says the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was at times obstructive. That led to one of the best Commission members leaving and probably led to the Pope not reappointing the prefect of the congregation.

Mr Kilgallon says he had worked in advisory roles to government before, in the UK.

He's found opposition like the Congregation's a common institutional reaction.

Mr Kilgallon is critical of the gap between the first and second terms of the Commission.

He says there could have been a seamless hand-over but a delay lead to the impression "that it wasn't being treated seriously" by the Vatican.

He always thought the Commission would continue, but "it wasn't helpful to have that gap."

Kilgallon says he had not expected reappointment because the Commission itself recommended changes to membership and so some must drop off.

Now Mr Kilgallon is anticipating more time with his grandchildren.

But, he says with a smile, "this is my third retirement."

Source:

• NZ Catholic
• Image: NZ Catholic

Ms Collins resigned her membership of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

She says she left in frustration last March at what she saw as a lack of progress.

The commission's 3-year term ended late last year.

Pope Francis dropped Kiwi Bill Kilgallon and 5 other members when he renewed the commission this year.

He reappointed 8 of the original members and appointed 9 new ones.

New Zealander Bill Kilgallon told CathNews he has retired and did not expect reappointment.

He says the commission itself recommended more or less what has happened to the membership.

"I was not expecting to serve a second term," he says.

Retirement no barrier

But Marie Collins says retirement was not a block to commission membership.

She says some past and present members were retirees and that means they have more time for Commission work.

Collins agrees that Kilgallon has also retired but she told CathNews that was only from his role in New Zealand.

Kilgallon had been Director of the National Office of Professional Standards (NOPS).

She told CathNews that he was available despite his retirement.

Kilgallon maintains that his term was a fixed one and his retirement signalled its end.

CathNews sought comment from NOPS.

Collins says Francis has dropped some of the most active and independent members of the commission.

She says three of them were leaders of the Commission's six working groups.

"They were halfway through their work, and I'm worried these groups may now be scrapped," she says. "There is no group in the commission for survivors."

According to Collins, dropped members included French psychotherapist Catherine Bonnet and the UK's Baroness Sheila Hollins.

She also lists Kiwi Bill Kilgallon and religious congregation adviser Krysten Winter-Green, a Kiwi living in the US.

For the renewed commission, the Vatican chose eight men and eight women.

It says they're "from a multi-disciplinary field of international experts in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from the crime of sexual abuse".

The new members come from a wide geographic spread.

Their countries include Tonga, Brazil, Ethiopia and Australia, among others.

The commission says the new members will add to its global perspective.

But he says priests' children have the right to know who their parents are.

He was speaking to RNZ about Coping International, a website that offers support to the children of clergy.

There are some New Zealanders among 13,500 people worldwide who have been in touch the website's founder, Vincent Doyle, since he started the website in late 2014.

"We've been contacted by a number of people in New Zealand - one family where there's more than one child to the same priest, to the same woman," Doyle said.

"But they're going to be making moves to that particular diocese in the future and they'll be contacting the bishop concerned."

The response to the website has prompted the Vatican to acknowledge the issue, and last month it began working on guidelines as to how it should respond.

Kilgallon, who is also a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, personally briefed the Pope about the issue last month.

He said the expectation would be that the [priest] should go and be a father to his child.

Kilgallon thought that secrecy surrounding the issue more often comes from family or relatives or friends - the community around you. Not the Pope, the Vatican, the bishop, especially in today's society in a country like New Zealand.

"They must, must get this right. This is the first time in history the church has really done this ... they can't just issue some guidelines... if they mess this up they will traumatise thousands of people."

Kilgallon acknowledged there might be complications, such as a priest's financial obligations to a child, or the need for DNA paternity testing, but these were purely secondary to the primary responsibility of the priest.

"We've acknowledged ... children have rights and one of those rights is to know their parents."

"The difficulty occurs when a child is born in a situation where the father is a priest who's not supposed to be in a relationship and fathering children. This can often lead to the relationship being kept secret, the identity of the father being denied to the child."

Source

• RNZ
• Image: The Christian Post

He was one of three people to speak when Pope Francis met with the commission face-to-face for the first time.

Together with Sr Hermenegild Makoro, Kilgallon gave a presentation on the projects carried out by the Commission's six working groups over the past three years.

More than 200 workshops and seminars have been held all over the world, including the Vatican, seeking to raise awareness about the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, and the church's duty to educate, train and protect its members.

Kilgallon said those churches that do have proper structures and suitable safeguards risk becoming complacent.

So it is vital such countries continue to review and renew their policies and practices, especially through the use of external audits.

He stated that they know what you need for a safe environment. But there are problems; these include:

Convincing countries that struggle because of a lack of information, resources and personnel to reach out for help
Getting essential information to everyone, including parents and children
Convincing those with guidelines in place that real action must accompany them.

Killgallon said the church needs to listen better to victims of abuse. It must be clear, firm and honest in proving that abuse has no place in its institutions.

Protecting children is not only central to Christ's teachings but "you can't give people their childhood back. We get only one chance," he said.

Kilgallon said the papal commission, which is expected to welcome new members at the end of the year, will "have to be persistent" because the work of safeguarding and healing "is too important to be delayed and distracted."

He and Makoro said the pope recognises the difficulties they have faced and has urged them to keep going.

"With the pope's support, things are going to happen," she said. "It's going to be difficult, but I'm sure step-by-step, little-by-little, things are going to take shape."

Source

• Crux
• CNS
• Image: s3.amaznaws

The statement from the commission set up to advise Pope Francis on best practice in the fight against child sexual abuse came after its most recent meeting in Rome.

In order to comply with one of the Pope's goals for the commission, that of promoting local responsibility, members have been "actively in contact" with bishops' conferences and others.

"Over the past year or so, commission members have met with bishops and child protection authorities in: Philippines, Austria, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Scotland, Poland, Central America (in Costa Rica), United States," the statement noted.

The director of the National Office for Professional Standards in New Zealand, Bill Kilgallon, is a member of the 17-person commission.

A workshop conducted by commission members last year in the Philippines saw that nation's bishops create a child safeguarding office.

The commission's statement added that it is preparing to ask Pope Francis to remind all bishops of the importance of responding personally to abuse victims and survivors who approach them.

The commission stated it is preparing to ask the Pope to institute a "Universal Day of Prayer" as well as a penitential liturgy for the crime of sexual abuse.

In upcoming months, commission members say they'll hold workshops on the legal aspects of the protection of minors.

This will be with the goal of promoting more transparent Church trials.

Another goal is the establishment of a website to facilitate sharing of best practices for the protection of minors around the world.

The September, 2016, meeting of the commission will have a strategic focus on safeguarding minors in Catholic schools.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Crux
• NZCBC
• Image: World for Travel

The Plenary Assembly began with Mass with Pope Francis, in Santa Marta.

Members then focused their sessions on listening to and discussing progress reports presented by the Working Groups formed in the February 2015 Plenary.

Kilgallon is the leader of the group responsible for developing a template of guidelines, aimed at aiding bishops and religious communities forming guidelines of their own.

Speaking at a briefing after the meeting Kilgallon said that when it comes to protection against abuse, guidelines need to be implemented according to the customs of each country if they are to be effective.

"What we don't want to do is impose something that we don't have the power to impose."

"But it won't work if you try and impose something that's the same for everybody," he told Catholic News Agency.

Other Working Groups considered:

• Healing and care for victims, survivors and their families
• Formation of candidates to the priesthood and religious life and the education of Church leadership
• Education of families and communities
• Theology and spirituality
• Canonical and civil norms

Kilgallon moved to New Zealand from the UK in 2011 after a long career in social work and health care.

From 1978-2002 he worked as Chief Executive of St Anne's Community Services (an organisation he had founded in 1971).

St Anne's works with people who are homeless, people with alcohol and drug problems, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems.

It provides a wide range of housing and social care services across Yorkshire and the North East of England.

Source

• catholicnewsagency.com
• catholic.org.nz
• press.vatican.va
• Image: media02.radiovaticana.va

There have been 58 child-sex abuse complaints accepted.

26 have been proven and 24 are still under investigation.

The incidents of sexual abuse reported occurred between 1946 and 1990.

The proven complaints implicated 21 priests, brothers, sisters and teachers.

Of those accused, eight are still alive; four of these have never been charged.

Kilgallon said all four had retired from the church.

He said all of the alleged perpetrators were elderly and in care and do not pose a threat to the public.

Their victims had chosen not to go to police.

He said victims were often reluctant to go to the police.

"This could be because they don't feel strong enough to go through the whole process of a trial and are fearful of any publicity that might bring."

"Occasionally we've had people who have had a not very good experience with the police."

The figures record only those complaints made after 2010, the year the church started keeping a central record.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• radionz.org.nz
• Image: i.ytimg.com

Kilgallon is the Director of the National Office for Professional Standards of the Catholic Church in New Zealand.

Dr. Krysten Winter-Green, another New Zealander now resident in the United States, has also been appointed to the Commission.

Bill has lived in New Zealand for the last four years.

Prior to that he had a long career in social work and health services in the United Kingdom.

"In accepting this role I'm very aware of the responsibility it entails as the Church across the world learns from the past, brings together best practice and works to make changes now and for the future," Kilgallon says.

In a statement, published following its first meeting, the Commission said "from the very beginning of our work, we have adopted the principle that the best interests of a child or vulnerable adult are primary when any decision is made."

Kilgallon said "This is certainly true for my contribution to this work."

Winter-Green has a post-graduate degrees in Theology, Human Development, Social Work, Religion and Pastoral Psychology. She has served in dioceses around the world with homeless persons and those living with AIDS.

She is presently working for the Archdiocese of Boston.

Her concentration in the areas of child abuse include forensics, assessment and treatment of priest/clergy offenders.

Commenting on Kilgallon's appointment, Archbishop John Dew, President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference, said, "It is pleasing to us that a New Zealander can contribute to the very important work of the Commission,"

Dew said that New Zealand is fortunate to have some one with such international experience and professionalism as Kilgallon

"He can now contribute through the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors whose aim is to propose the necessary changes to ensure the protection of minors throughout the global Church."

"As he begins this work we offer our congratulations and prayerful support to Bill and the people and work of the Commission."

Dew was speaking on behalf of all the New Zealand Catholic Bishops.

The Commission has also gained a second abuse survivor and several women.

The next plenary session of the Commission will take place in the Vatican from 6-8 February 2015.

See: Complete List of members of Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Read: Press release from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops

Source

• Vatican Press Office
• Vatican Radio
• New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Irish Times

National Office for Professional Standards director Bill Kilgallon and the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith's promoter of justice Msgr Robert Oliver visited American Samoa in July.

Accompanied by clinical psychologist Carolyn Cavana, they were there at the invitation of Bishop Peter Brown of Samoa-Pago Pago.

The Pacific Islands bishops' conference (CEPAC) are "just at the stage where they have introduced policies and procedures", Mr Kilgallon said.

The New Zealand office was asked to help train people responsible for running the procedures in American Samoa and Bishop Brown invited other dioceses to send people.

The training had representatives from American Samoa, Samoa, Tahiti, and Fiji.

"First of all we had a day with all the priests, deacons, catechists and some of the teachers in American Samoa, about 100 people, talking about boundaries, healthy boundaries in relationships and about the new procedures," Mr Kilgallon said.

"Then we had four days with people who will actually be doing this."

Mr Kilgallon said the interaction "was a great opportunity for us to share what we have learned so far, but also to see the issues from a different perspective".

"So it was a good learning for us, because obviously in New Zealand, we have got lots of communities from the islands."

Mr Kilgallon was impressed by the people who will be working in this area in the Pacific dioceses -people with senior government experience, judges, lawyers, police, a psychologist.

He said the New Zealand church will continue to liaise with their Pacific counterparts.

"And I hope that we will be able to assist them, because obviously the populations in some of the islands are quite small, and they will need to borrow expertise from different people and share some of those resources."

Noting the cultural and legislative differences across the Pacific, Mr Kilgallon said it was good Msgr Oliver could reflect some of this back to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Mr Kilgallon said he worked with Msgr Oliver at the recent Anglophone conference in Rome and invited him to visit New Zealand and the Pacific.

Source

• National Office for Professional Standards (NZ)
• Image: Samoa News

Maria Noonan, who will develop and deliver the programme, was introduced at a Safe Church Training Day held in Wellington on July 30.

She will work as part of the Catholic Church's National Office of Professional Standards (NOPS).

Director Bill Kilgallon said the programme will be for priests, religious, staff and volunteers.

"It is partly about prevention, but is also about awareness-raising really," Mr Kilgallon said.

"Because there would be many people who attend Church who have been abused, not in the Church, but in families and other settings," he said.

"And the Church could and should be a place of healing and welcome for them."

Mrs Noonan is a teacher by background, and also worked for many years in a L'Arche community in the United Kingdom.

Born in New Zealand and with a degree from Otago University, her last job was working with students with poor school attendance.

The training day in Wellington was attended by about 45 people, including members of diocesan sexual abuse protocol committees and representatives from religious orders.

Canon lawyers, people who help NOPS with investigation work, diocesan staff and one bishop also attended.

They heard from Mr Kilgallon and Mrs Noonan, as well as from Msgr Robert Oliver, the promoter of justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Msgr Oliver is responsible for dealing with abuse cases that go to Rome and has been called the Vatican's "point man" for abuse.

He gave those at the Wellington event an overview of the issue "church-wide" and the role of the CDF, as well as discussing the new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Mr Kilgallon said Msgr Oliver would have liked the way bishops and religious orders in New Zealand work closely together on this issue.

But the New Zealand church still faces challenges in terms of supporting victims and education and prevention, Mr Kilgallon said.

Those at the training day were told the number of victims coming forward is expected to increase in this country, mostly reporting historic abuse.

Source

• National Office for Professional Standards
• Image: MSN Ireland

In commenting on the report, the National Director of the Office for Professional Standards, Mr Bill Kilgallon told Radio New Zealand that in New Zealand all complaints of abuse are given to police and a code of silence has not been evident in the country for at least 20 years.

The Catholic Church in New Zealand set up the Office for Professional Standards to respond to complaints of abuse against clergy or religious.

Kilgallon says the Church in New Zealand was one of the first to establish clear policies to deal with sexual abuse and most of the reports it now gets are of a historical nature.

But Mr Ken Clearwater, a spokesperson for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, said the Church is playing down the extent of the problem in the country.

Clearwater said the trust continues to get reports of sexual abuse by priests in New Zealand and the problem here is no different to that elsewhere in the world.

"What I'd like to see is that we have a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the institutional care of children - exactly the same as they're having in Australia at the moment." he said.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• Image: Yahoo News
  

He says that since June the church has received five new claims of abuse from New Zealanders now living in Australia.

Four of the claims were from people who had been sexually abused by priests or teachers as children.

Other complaints have also been made by people living in New Zealand.

All the claims relate to incidents between the early 1960's and late 1980's.

Kilgallon said at least seven claims of abuse were still being investigated.

Source

• TVNZ
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

"While the complaints and reviews which are currently being processed are all historical, the office and this role remain crucial to investigating and resolving these cases so that the victims can receive some sense of closure and healing, and I'm delighted that Bill Kilgallon has accepted this role," said Archbishop John Dew, President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference.

"Mr Kilgallon has had a long career in health and social care including overseeing inquiries in these areas and I have full confidence in his ability to lead this office," Archbishop Dew says.

"Mr Kilgallon will take over from John Jamieson following a short handover period. Mr Jamieson, who was the inaugural Director has certainly made an invaluable contribution to the office through the establishing of protocols and processes bringing his experience as Police Commissioner and various roles in the criminal justice and policing sector to the role," Archbishop John Dew says.

"I am grateful for the neutrality, integrity and wisdom that Mr Jamieson has brought the office and wish him all the best for his retirement after 8 years as the National Director," Archbishop Dew says.

"In a credit to his work in the early part of Mr Jamieson's time in the role, setting up transparent and effective processes, meant that he was able to move from full time to part time hours after 2 and a half years as things began to work much more efficiently," Archbishop Dew says.

"While the complaints and reviews continue to deal with historical cases of abuse, there is no time limitation on laying a complaint and I urge anyone who has experienced abuse by clergy or religious to approach the National Office for Professional Standards and tell their story - an important step in the path to healing," Archbishop Dew says.

Kilgallon says he is looking forward to taking on this important and challenging role building on the excellent work of John Jamieson. The Catholic Church in New Zealand is clearly committed to dealing with complaints of abuse - current and past - in an honest and transparent way.

Kilgallon moved to New Zealand from the UK two years ago after a long career in social work and health care. From 1978-2002 he worked as Chief Executive of St Anne's Community Services (an organisation he had founded in 1971). St Anne's works with people who are homeless, people with alcohol and drug problems, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems. It provides a wide range of housing and social care services across Yorkshire and the North East of England.

He served on a number of government advisory bodies on mental health, learning disabilities and social work education. From 2003-2007 he was Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence - set up by Government to establish what works in social care and to develop policy and practice guidance. From 2007-2010 he was Chief Executive of St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds.

Bill was an elected Councillor on Leeds City Council for 13 years, and was a member of NHS management boards for 24 years including 10 years as Chair of a NHS Trust Board.

He led a number of inquiries in health and social care.

Bill was a member of a review led by Baroness Cumberlege into the protection of children and vulnerable adults in the Catholic Church in England and Wales which recommended a restructuring of the Church's work in this area. He was appointed on 2008 as the first chair of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission responsible for setting policies and procedures in the Catholic Church in England and Wales and for monitoring compliance by the dioceses and religious congregations.

The bishops and congregational leaders established the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) to oversee the response to complaints of abuse. The National Director is responsible for ensuring that reviews are conducted fairly, thoroughly and independently.

In 2009, the role of the National Office for Professional Standards was amended to include oversight of all complaints from the time the complaint is made. If a review of process is later requested this will be carried out by an independent person, not the National Office for Professional Standards.

• Number of complaints currently being investigated by the office: 10
• All cases currently in progress relate to incidents that occurred prior to 1985.
• Number of reviews currently underway: 2

Source

• New Zealand Catholic Bishop's Conference
• Image: New Zealand Catholic Bishop's Conference