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The John of God Brothers are no longer active in New Zealand, but their headquarters remain in Rome.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

Needing help?

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737
• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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

Darryl Smith suffered at the hands of the John of God Brothers in Australia and New Zealand.

He has already undergone a redress settlement process in Australia and received compensation from the Queensland government and the John of God brothers.

Smith told the Otago Daily Times (ODT) that he believes Queensland has more support for survivors than New Zealand. He has presented his recommendations for a redress scheme to the Royal Commission, outlining what the New Zealand government's response to the inquiry must include.

His recommendations call for mandatory participation by all faith-based institutions in the redress, independent management of the process, and a review of historical claims with adjustments to financial compensation where necessary.

The report noted that Smith views redress as encompassing more than just financial compensation, expressing his hope that New Zealand would follow Australia's lead.

"Queensland has more support for survivors than in New Zealand."

"The Royal Commission Act also shows survivors in Australia that the changes are there for the long haul. New Zealand also needs to commit to redress in legislation," Smith said.

In New Zealand, the ACC Sensitive Claims Unit provides support for survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

It says that in response to the growing number of survivors accessing its services, it has increased the number of providers it works with and is also changing how it works to ensure it can better meet people's needs.

The ACC reports that, in the last five years, the number of claims it has received from survivors of sexual abuse and assault has doubled.

"Greater public awareness of sexual violence and easier access to support services has contributed to this increase.

"Other influences include media coverage on sexual violence and the #MeToo movement. These and other societal trends and conversations are changing attitudes towards sexual violence" reports the ACC.

The Royal Commission's findings have shed light on the extreme nature of the abuse at Marylands School.

"We are aware of no other circumstances or institution where the sexual abuse has been so extreme or has involved such a high proportion of perpetrators over the same extended period of time as that at Marylands School," says Judge Coral Shaw, the Chair of the Royal Commission.

The report further concluded that social workers, police, the state, the brothers and the Catholic Church had failed the children, highlighting a systemic failure that resonates beyond the school itself.

On Friday CathNews reported a very strong statement by Archbishop Paul Martin, General Secretary of the New Zealand Bishops Conference

"The abuse described should never have happened.

"Nor should any abuse happen.

"I want to restate categorically that the bishops of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand have zero tolerance for abuse.

"No form of abuse, misconduct or inappropriate behaviour is acceptable in the Church community.

"The Church must continue to confront the difficult truths of the past, including the inexcusable abuse and suffering described in the case study report," wrote Martin.

Needing help?

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737
• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sources

• SMH
• ACC Sensitive Claims Newsroom
• ODT
• CathNews NZ
• CathNews NZ
• CathNews NZ

Smith is a former student at Marylands School and a survivor. The Royal Commission acknowledges his quest for justice.

He is 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 in public.

He is pleased survivors are now being believed.

"It's good that it's actually public knowledge and it's good that it's being read by people, and also that people now believe us that it actually happened to us," Smith told Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB.

Smith, is a prolific author who has documented his journey and concurs with the report that Marylands was "Hell on Earth".

Pressed by du Plessis-Allan on why it was Hell on Earth, Smith replied simply and clearly "Well, if you get sexually raped, I think you'd think it'd be hell."

As a young boy, just two days after he arrived at Marylands School, Smith was forced to perform sexual acts on two St John of God brothers entrusted to care for him.

Pulling out a Bible, they told Smith "This is what God means by love".

He was later raped on a marble altar.

The Australian province of the St John of God religious order sent five brothers to New Zealand to staff the Marylands School.

Most were untrained as teachers without specialist skills to educate disabled children and, within a very short time, all five had been accused of abusing the children.

As the Royal Commission reports, abuse at Marylands School was pervading.

"Of the 537 boys who attended Marylands School, more than one in five (118) reported abuse while in the school's care.

"Survivors told the Inquiry that the brothers routinely raped, masturbated and indecently assaulted the young boys in their care. They forced boys to masturbate and perform oral sex on them.

"Abuse was so normalised, some boys abused one another.

"There were times when two or more brothers sexually abused a child at the same time or made the boys perform sexual acts on each other in front of the brothers. Sometimes this happened behind closed doors. At times, it was inflicted in plain sight of others as a punishment or threat. Children were threatened and physically beaten into complying with the wishes of the brothers and lived in constant fear."

Smith says he is looking for compensation but also wants every St John of God Brother chastised and imprisoned for life in New Zealand.

Smith was also abused by the John of God brothers in Queensland.

Marylands School received referrals for children from state agencies, health professionals and parents.

The school was originally established to assist boys with learning difficulties.

But not all of those referred to the school had learning difficulties. Some of them were sent there due to being excluded from their previous local school.

The report says the state and the church failed to protect the boys because of a lack of oversight of the brothers running the school. It provides distressing accounts of abuse experienced by numerous young boys under the care of the brothers.

The report highlights their desperate need for support and recognition, and the inaction of the state, the Catholic Church and the Hospitaller Brothers of St John of God (Order of St John of God).

Coral Shaw, the Chair of the Royal Commission, said "We are aware of no other circumstances or institution where the sexual abuse has been so extreme or has involved such a high proportion of perpetrators over the same extended period of time as that at Marylands School."

Shaw said that children were not believed by social workers, police, the brothers or the Catholic Church when they reported abuse and neglect.

The report contains no recommendations, as these will be included in the Royal Commission's final report due in March 2024.

Survivors described their experience as "hell on earth".

Needing help?

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737
• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sources

• NewstalkZB
• Sydney Morning Herald
• ODT
• NZ Herald
• Department of Internal Affairs
• Abuse in Care - Royal Commission - Executive summary
• Abuse in Care - Royal Commission - Interim Reports
• CathNews

A more thorough investigation will have to be undertaken first in relation to the 1680 recorded instances of alleged abuse reported since 1950 - of which 592 alleged abusers were identified.

Many of the complaints were upheld at the time they were made, but it is not known how many resulted in a police investigation.

The church's investigation into historic abuse was released ahead of the next stage of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into State Abuse.

One historic abuse victim, Darryl Smith, says he still suffers from the abuse, sleeps with the light on and scrubs himself raw in the bath.

Smith, who appeared before the Royal Commission yesterday, says he feels the state is as responsible as the church for his abuse.

Under the condition the former Department of Social Welfare monitor the situation, on the advice of the Ministry of Education, Smith was sent to Marylands School by his parents at age 6 because he had been running away from home.

After a police investigation in the 2000s, Smith received total compensation of $150,000 from St John of God, which he described as "rubbish".

In 2012, the NZ and Australian governments apologised to him and he received $30,000 as part of the NZ Confidential Listening and Assistance Service.

Assisted by the Bishop of Dunedin, Smith also travelled to the Vatican to speak on behalf of abuse victims.

But Smith also wants St John of God to be held fully accountable and for proper redress for survivors, including adequate payouts, long-term mental health support, and housing.

"It's not a money grab," Smith said.

"It is what we are entitled to. You rape a child, you take their childhood away from them. Some of us have never worked because we have been so ill, or got in trouble with police. Why should we have to miss out?"

Although two St John brothers were convicted for the abuse of boys at Marylands, the criminal prosecution focused on individual wrongdoing, and little scrutiny has been applied to the roles of the church and state in the case - something which the Commission aims to rectify.

Victim advocates, who say the inquiry likely covered a fraction of overall abuse, are questioning what would be done with the new findings which followed a two-year inquiry.

"There's still a lot not clear from our analysis about how many of the allegations were upheld," Cardinal John Dew says.

"Most of them have been. But considerable research is still needed to be done to see how many have been upheld, and that is something we're continuing to work on".

Dew, New Zealand's most senior representative of the church, says the information had not been centralised until now and had been spread across dioceses and congregations.

Further analysis would show what had happened to the perpetrators and what redress had been made to the complainant, he says.

Asked what would be done with upheld complaints that had not yet been referred to police, a spokesman for the church noted that many of the alleged abusers had died. The spokesman reiterated that more work was needed before any action was taken.

A change in church protocol in 1993 required complaints of illegal acts to be referred to police and for the appointment of an independent investigator.

This was partly in response to concerns that serious abuse cases had been dealt with in-house or were covered up.

The first independent investigator was former Police Commissioner John Jamieson.

The former Police Commissioner was followed by a former UK Catholic priest, Mr Bill Kilgallon, later a manager and chief executive of three social agencies in the UK.

Kilgallon was succeeded by the present head of the National Office of Professional Standards, Virginia Noonan, a lawyer.

In a media statement, SNAP Aotearoa NZ wants the names of all accused perpetrators released into the public square. "Names of those against whom creditable complaints have been made, and those again whom complaints have not been upheld, ought be made available to the public, with reasons for the latter".

Sources

• NZ Herald
• Stuff
• Child Abuser Royal Commission Australia (PDF)
• NZ Catholic
• SNAP NZ - supplied
• Image: Stuff

The Commission is encouraging survivors to come forward, as is St John of God survivor, Darryl Smith.

Smith says his traumatic story with St John of God began at age 7.

"It started when Brother Keane, a school teacher at Marylands, kept me back in class.

"Older boys and some staff came along too", said Smith.

He told CathNews that the abuse was not carried out by just one brother.

Br Roger (Moloney), at the time, head of the Order in New Zealand, called him to his office, seemingly to take a call from his grandmother.

Smith said there was no phone call from his grandmother, there was no phone call at all but he was very seriously abused.

Smith says he does not understand how the Order moved these men around knowing for years what they were doing. He says he does not accept the Order's claims it was the done thing at the time.

"What a load of rubbish", he said. "The done thing, the Christian thing is to protect a child", he told CathNews.

Later in the 1970's Smith moved to Australia where he was again in the care of the St John of God brothers, and again he was very seriously abused.

"How's that, abused by the same brothers both sides of the Tasman", said Smith wryly.

Smith told CathNews that the serious abuse conducted by the St John of brothers began during the formative time in his life, so much so, that for many years he did not know what was right or wrong.

"Between 1984 to 2009 I spent a lifetime in and out of Prison because of the evil I suffered", he said.

However, in 2010 his life started to change and he began the long road of healing.

"I started doing artwork to heal myself and learnt from that.

"At a comparatively late stage of life, I began to understand the difference between right and wrong".

In 2012 he held his first art exhibition entitled "My New Journey".

Darryl Smith, Artist

Now the author of several books, Smith's first book is the story of his shattered life at the hands of the St John of God brothers.

Smith is the New Zealand Ambassador for the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, a role he takes seriously.

While he is writing a report on the Hospitaller Order of St John of God in New Zealand to be presented to the Royal Commission and is appearing in front of the Royal Commission at the February hearing, he also asks that other survivors consider joining him.

Smith's encouragement is echoed by General manager of investigations for the Royal Commission, Tom Powell.

"We want to hear from as many survivors as possible, so we have a comprehensive picture as to what happened at these organisations."

Ken Clearwater, a founding trustee of Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse told Stuff that said survivors carry shame, disgust and guilt, and are often labelled liars, so he takes his hat off to anyone brave enough to share their story.

Powell told Suff that the commission had wellbeing wraparound support for anyone who wanted to share their experiences, but he recognised how difficult it was.

Catherine Fyfe, chair of Te Ropu Tautoko - the group coordinating Catholic engagement with the Royal Commission - says: Tautoko has "been working with the Royal Commission to ensure that our response has been as timely and comprehensive as possible, to honour those harmed at Marylands."

Source

• Stuff
• Scoop
• Stuff
• Stuff​

"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