The "Whanaketia - through pain and trauma, from darkness to light" report was made public on Wednesday afternoon after being tabled in Parliament.

The bishops and congregational leaders say they need to read its 16 volumes thoroughly and consider the contents before they can make any further comment.

They say they will ensure action follows their review of the Inquiry's findings and they are committed to improve safeguarding in all aspects of Church life.

In a letter read at all parish masses last weekend, they stated "We acknowledge that the abuse of people in the care of the Church is real and the failures of Church leaders in responding to reports are real.

"The impacts of these are present today - for survivors, their whanau, for faith communities and for society.

"At the same time, everyone must play their part in responding to the Inquiry's report to the extent that they can.

"There are things that all of us can and must do to eliminate abuse of any kind in whatever context we live and work in."

Our national disgrace

A quick summary of the report says:

• "Unimaginable" and widespread abuse in care between 1950 and 2019 amounts to a "national disgrace"
• An estimated 200,000 of 655,000 in care were abused and many more neglected, with Maori disproportionately affected and subjected to overt and targeted racism
• Violence and sexual abuse were common and, in some cases, children and young people were "trafficked" to members of the public for sex
• State and church agencies' responses to abuse reports were woefully inadequate

The Royal Commission is calling for:

• Apologies from the Government, the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury as global heads of the churches responsible, along with other religious bodies and organisations
• An inquiry into evidence of unmarked graves at former psychiatric hospitals
• A specialist police unit dedicated to investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the abuse

Read the summary

In an opinion piece in the Waikato Times, Professor David Tombs (director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at Otago University) is urging churches to make better responses to spiritual and sexual abuse.

"For the nation - and especially for the state and New Zealand's churches - this report will be hard reading. The picture it presents is deeply disturbing" writes Tombs.

"But facing up to failure cannot be avoided. It clears the way to change.

"Churches can play their part by encouraging their members to consider reading the summary. This will signal the importance of immediately acknowledging the report as an issue for everyone in the churches.

"Churches can then plan to read and respond to the report much more fully before November 12.

"However we choose to respond, there needs to be an urgent desire to learn from the work that has been done and implement the changes that are needed for a better future in our state systems and churches."

Source

• Waikato Times
• NZ Herald
• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• AP

It's been prevalent in the Catholic Church, in other churches and within wider society, he says.

Tomb's view is shared by Dr Rocio Figueroa, a theological researcher at the Te Kupenga Catholic Leadership Institute whose focus is pastoral response for survivors of Church abuse.

Figueroa says the Church, in the wake of damning findings about a lack of accountability for both State and Church care, is moving to take more accountability.

Figueroa's research focuses on pastoral responses for Church abuse survivors. She believes the Church is doing its best to respond to victims and deal with abusers.

While she said there was always more that could be done, she was "grateful and happy there is now more accountability. The Bishops are doing the work they need to" she says.

Tombs makes the point that "Policies and procedures have improved significantly in recent years, and Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders have often spoken out on the urgent need to address the abuse crisis and the damage it has caused".

"In the past, the focus of the Church has been to protect its institutional reputation. This has often come at great cost to survivors who have been disbelieved and even blamed when reporting abuses.

"The Catholic Church has sought to be more survivor-centred in its response to abuse disclosures, but a lot of trust has been eroded and will be hard to re-build" he says.

"The problem is not limited to the Catholic Church—abuses have been prevalent in other churches and within wider society—but serious failings in the Catholic Church have often been in the spotlight in media coverage" he said.

Tombs described the Church's response time to sexual abuse as being "painfully slow".

Priest defrocked

Tombs and Figueroa's comments come amidst the defrocking of a priest in New Zealand.

The priest was defrocked by Pope Francis following complaints of an alleged rape by a priest and after all the priest's Church appeals were exhausted.

The alleged rape occurred during a house blessing at the home of the complainant.

"When a priest commits grave crimes, for example abuse of a minor, a sexual solicitation under the sacrament, all these crimes are reasons that can make a priest be dismissed" says Figueroa.

This is just the third defrocking in New Zealand she notes.

The alleged rapist, his victim and the bishop

Defrocking the priest who allegedly raped a Hamilton woman was all very well but it took a long time, says a woman whom the Waikato Times calls Cathy to protect her identity.

But defrocking a priest is "basically our capital punishment" explains Bishop of Hamilton Richard Laurenson.

"As rare as a hanging would be on one level."

However Cathy told the Waikato Times she remained unhappy at the Church's delay in moving against the priest and said she feared "he will do it to someone else".

The Waikato Times understands the man still resides in New Zealand, and complaints about his behaviour date back at least 15 years.

Police job now

"It is now up to the police to take matters any further should they feel they can" Laurenson told Cathy.

Police say they cannot comment on the case.

Source

• Waikato Times

The image is the creation of Canadian artist and sculptor Tim Schmalz, who specialises in art addressing religious themes.

He presents the sleeping figure as wrapped tight in a blanket, as if shivering in the cold. The face and hands are not visible but two bare feet stretch out from one end of the blanket.

Both feet are marked with distinctive wounds which are familiar in Christian art.

They show the marks left by the nails during crucifixion.

It is this small detail that shows the figure is a depiction of a suffering Jesus.

Schmalz, a committed Catholic who believes all human life is sacred, was inspired to create the work in 2012 after seeing a homeless man sleeping on a bench in Toronto during the Christmas holidays.

He wanted to invite people to reflect on the parable of judgement in Matthew 25.

In this parable, Jesus tells his disciples, "as you did it to one of the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me" (Mattew 25:40).

Schmalz first moulded a clay figure and used this to make a cast to create bronze statues at his studio in Ontario.

He describes it as "essentially a visual translation of one of the core ideas of the Bible".

We encounter Christ when we encounter others in need.

When we respond to those in need, either offering help or showing indifference, we are responding at the same time to Christ.

Schmalz initially planned to give the statue a face, but decided it would make the figure a more universal representation if he let the blanket act as a hood.

There is a poignant irony in the fact that the statue initially found it hard to find a home.

Two famous Catholic Cathedrals, St Michael's in Toronto and St Patrick's in New York, both declined opportunities to purchase it.

This changed in 2013.

Regis College, the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto, installed the statue in its front plaza.

It serves to invite all who come to the college to reflect on those in need.

In the same year, St Alban's Episcopal church (Anglican) in Davidson, North Carolina, purchased the first statue to be installed in the United States.

In November 2013, the Pope invited Schmalz to Rome and Schmalz took the model he used to plan the first cast.

The Pope blessed it and described it as a "beautiful and excellent representation" of Jesus.

More and more places then started to request statues in Canada, the US and further afield.

The first statue outside North America was installed in Dublin in April 2015.

In March 2016, a full version was installed outside of the Papal Office of Charities, on the street leading to Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

By this time, about a hundred copies had been installed worldwide, including in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. One church described having the statue as like offering a "24-hour sermon".

The statue is so realistic that when it is installed in a new place it often gives passers-by a surprise.

In more than one city, people driving past have mistaken the statue for a real person. Some have called paramedics to give assistance to the sleeping figure.

In some cases, the statue is met with a more hostile response.

In Davidson, a woman who saw the sleeping figure called the police rather than paramedics. It seems that she was worried about the danger to the reputation of the neighbourhood posed by a vagrant.

When she learnt of her mistake she was unmoved.

She said the statue sent the wrong message, and she objected to the idea of Jesus as a vagrant, or in need of help.

Schmalz expected the statue to be provocative and stimulate conversation.

Some have criticised the expense of the statue (about $30,000) and suggested that the money would be better used for people who are actually homeless.

Supporters respond that the statue raises public awareness.

In some places, it serves as a helpful collection focus for donations of food or blankets to support homeless people.

In New Zealand, the Government announced a four-year plan on homelessness in 2019, which it hopes will support those who are living on the streets.

Dunedin's night shelter is open every day from 6 pm-9 am.

Nonetheless, with the loss of some casual jobs due to Covid, some people can still fall through the gaps in service provision.

As temperatures drop for the winter months sleeping out becomes particularly difficult.

There is no Homeless Jesus statue in Dunedin, but the statues in other cities are a helpful reminder of the message in Matthew 25 to respond to those who are homeless and to treat them and their needs as if they are Christ.

• David Tombs is the Howard Paterson Professor of Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago.
• First published in the ODT. Republished with permission.
• Image: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a well known example, William Rutherford Waddell found great inequalities and deprivation in the St. Andrew's parish of Dunedin during an economic downturn in the 1880s.

He was determined the church should make a difference in society.

He denounced the "sin of cheapness" in an 1888 sermon and criticised conditions of women textile workers who worked long hours in poor conditions for less than a living wage.

Following a campaign covered in the Otago Daily Times, in 1889 Waddell helped to establish the Tailoresses Union, which was New Zealand's first female trade union.

In the recently published report Making a Difference, (PDF), Richard Davis shares the results of his research into how faith-based organisations (FBOs) can contribute on today's social issues and effectively engage with national and local government in our own times.

Davis asks how FBOs can be a positive voice in social policy debates, and whether the government takes churches seriously in these discussions.

He also explores how FBOs might build better relationships with the policy community, and how they might assemble the information, data and research capacity needed to support evidence-based and robust contributions to political debates.

As Davis notes, there is a perception that churches are no longer central in public life, and no longer have an influence on social issues.

In the words of one commentator: "The church at the moment is relatively ineffective. She has a wide extension and a certain pervading influence but her action is not changing history at depth nor is she meeting the challenges of our time with the energy and speed necessary to save humanity from catastrophe.

Her potential is greater than that of any other institution or school of thought or way of life known to man - and yet so little happens."

Many might read the above and see it as a fair summary of the issues FBOs are facing today.

Yet, as Davis notes, this passage from Ormond Burton is not dated 2019 but 1970. How churches and FBOs can best adapt to their place in society is not a new question.

In the report, Davis sheds light on how FBOs seek to navigate and overcome the obstacles they face.

In practice, FBOs such as the Salvation Army, World Vision, Caritas, Tearfund, Presbyterian Support, Christian World Service and many others make a huge contribution to social wellbeing in New Zealand and overseas.

They find widespread support in wider society for their relief and service work. Yet, discussion of policy issues by FBOs and churches is a much more sensitive matter, even when the policy issues have a direct bearing on social welfare.

If FBOs and churches are to contribute effectively to social change, and not just provide social support, they must find ways to address policy makers on political matters.

Making a Difference: Faith-Based Organisations Contributing to Social Change in Aotearoa was originally commissioned from Otago's Centre for Theology and Public Issues by the Bishop's Action Foundation (BAF), to offer insights into how BAF can work most effectively.

The wisdom and experience shared by the interviewees has been used to shape and guide BAF strategy in its ongoing work for local communities in Taranaki.

With the launch of the University of Otago's new master's degree on "Faith-Based Leadership and Management" this year, this report is now published as an open-access resource for Otago students and the general public. It is available for reading or download from the Otago University Research Archive.

The interviews for the report were completed in 2013, and there have been important changes in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the globe over the years 2013-19.

On the global agenda there is a new awareness of the global challenges raised by climate change and migration.

At a national level, child poverty, housing, and family violence are all receiving more public attention. Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister, following the election of September 2017, and a new coalition government became part of the political landscape.

Yet, despite these important changes, there is much in the report that remains as relevant now as it did then.

Davis does not provide simple answers, but his work will stimulate a deeper discussion on how FBOs can confront the challenges they face and contribute to the common good.

• Prof David Tombs is the Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues at Otago University Centre for Theology and Public Issues.

First published in the ODT. Reproduced with permission.