SNAP - a group of clergy sex abuse survivors - in a recent letter to Dame Cindy Kiro called for the diplomatic ties to be cut.

The group says Government House informed them "the Governor-General acts on the advice of Ministers, and this is not a matter she can comment on."

SNAP has since written to New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.

They want her to recommend New Zealand rescind the protections and privileges it granted to the Catholic corporate state entity in 1973.

SNAP's new open letter claims those "privileges and protections were not only unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory" - they were granted to one church only, they explained.

These privileges also "created whakanoa i te tapu o te tangata, violation of people, and a lack of self-determination for our nation."

Second karanga

SNAP hopes the Government will hear its second karanga to Mahuta.

"As you will know, the Holy See is a legal corporate person under international law, and it maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with several sovereign states including New Zealand," says SNAPs letter to Mahuta.

"It also performs multilateral diplomacy with several intergovernmental organisations.

"The Holy See claims a need to exercise its mission in full freedom when dealing with every interlocutor," the letter continues. But the Holy See's freedoms have never been subject to any critical examination.

"Thus, The Holy See has been able to escape the scrutiny applied to real sovereign states and corporations."

SNAP told Mahuta that the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions' 2021 interim report found the Church dominated many religious institutions for crimes of "predatory and criminal sexual violence."

These crimes, SNAP wrote, were perpetrated by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns.

SNAP says the political privilege and immunity the Government grants to the Holy See enables the Catholic Church to conceal sex abuse crimes and impede justice for thousands of child victims.

The sex abuse survivors' letter claims Catholic lawyers working for Catholic bishops are obstructing the Royal Commission's progress, "despite what those same bishops are telling the New Zealand public."

The Vatican is also facilitating this, SNAP tells Mahuta.

Although SNAP offers to supply concrete examples of its claims, none is actually referenced in the letter itself.

Political and legal courtesy

Victims and survivors and their whanau in New Zealand are not able to trust the government, SNAP told Mahuta.

It grants political immunity to a Church which uses that immunity to shield its abusers and conceal their paedophilic crimes, SNAP wrote.

"They do not want to be abused by the laws of our State as they were abused by Catholic Church leaders.

"May we ask: Will you help us remove these unjust privileges and protections from a foreign church-corporate state which is abusing our nation and its people?"

Source

• SNAP
• Scoop

In a King's Birthday appeal, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Aotearoa wrote an unsigned, open letter to Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro.

The group, under leader Chris Longhurst (pictured), told Kiro New Zealand's sovereignty is being compromised. They said this is because sex abuse crimes are being concealed.

In their open letter, they maintain that the political privilege and immunity the Government grants to The Holy See enables the Catholic Church to conceal sex abuse crimes and impede justice for thousands of child victims.

"Will you help us to remove this unjust privilege from a foreign church-corporate state which is abusing our nation and people?"

SNAP referred Kiro to the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions' December 2021 interim report.

They said the report found the Church "to be predominant amongst many religious institutions, for its prevalence and sheer scale of predatory, indeed criminal, sexual violence committed against innocent children and vulnerable adults ... by ... Catholic priests, brothers and nuns in New Zealand.

Immunity questioned

"This same Church enjoys a form of immunity granted since 1973 by the New Zealand Government only to this Church," SNAP wrote.

SNAP told Kiro they believe the "worst offenders enjoy special privileges and protections."

The Church has and is using these privileges and protections "to facilitate the concealment and avoidance of accountability for a multitude of very serious crimes," said SNAP.

The open letter went on to tell Kiro "a political and legal courtesy is facilitating the most repugnant coverup of crimes of sexual violation of helpless and innocent children by Catholic bishops and congregational leaders in New Zealand - and, of course, from the Vatican which uses its political status and religious privilege to facilitate that coverup.

"How can one church enjoy such exceptional privilege to avoid common law and accountability to nearly 1700 officially recognised survivors of such crimes and, we believe, thousands more yet to come forward?" SNAP asked the Governor General.

Tika

New Zealand survivors and their whanau cannot trust a system which grants effective political immunity for paedophilic crimes, the open letter continued. They do not wish to be abused by the law as Church leaders abused them.

SNAP went on to ask Kiro "as representative of our sovereign nation" to recommend the Government "rescind the archaic diplomatic protections and privileges which it granted to The Holy See in 1973... operating in our country out of Vatican City State."

It would be tika for this to happen, SNAP said.

They said these protections and privileges, besides enabling abuse and its coverup in New Zealand, are also unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory.

"They have created whakanoa amongst our people" SNAP wrote.

The open letter then said the Holy See's ‘diplomatic immunity' enables the Church to obstruct SNAP members' rights and entitlement to justice, "among literally thousands of survivors of heinous misdeeds."

SNAP said it would therefore like Kiro to "lead our country and its people towards freedom from such corruption, towards hohou rongo, the restoration of right relationships, by calling on the Government to repeal those protections and privileges."

Source

• Scoop

After a health and safety briefing Dame Cindy was one of the team serving guests a hot meal.

Her visit coincided with the 187th birthday celebration of Compassion founder Suzanne Aubert.

Mother Aubert established the Soup Kitchen 121 years ago. Located near central Wellington, it has been a key component of food security in Wellington ever since.

"The Compassion Soup Kitchen continues Mother Aubert's remarkable legacy by supporting people in need in our community, including those struggling with mental health issues, addiction, homelessness, and poverty" says the Governor General's blog.

Aubert's mission was to ensure there was no need for a soup kitchen in Wellington, says the Compassion Group's co-Chief Executive Dr Chris Gallavin.

"The need for a free warm meal is increasing for many in our city," he said, adding that over the coming months the Compassion Soup Kitchen will be doing all that it can to step up to meet the need.

The Compassion Soup Kitchen serves nearly 200 meals each day and has delivered over 50,000 meals in the last twelve months.

"Whoever walks through that door in need gets a meal," says Soup Kitchen manager, Sam Johnson.

Dame Cindy's visit formed part of a series of activities to mark the anniversary of Suzanne Aubert's birth.

Celebrations also included Mass held at the Chapel of Our Lady's Home of Compassion in Island Bay on Sunday, 19 June.

During his homily, Cardinal John Dew highlighted Aubert's love for all, saying: "Let us have a heart like an artichoke and so big that everyone can have a leaf of it".

Aubert was born on 19 June 1835 in Saint-Symphorien-de-Lay, near Lyon in France. She emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1860.

She was a prominent teacher, nurse, health care innovator, social welfare pioneer and advocate for disadvantaged children, the poor and the sick 'of all faiths and none'.

Source

• NZ Governor General's blog
• Scoop