New Zealand abuse victims turn to Pope for help when they feel helpless

Sydney (Australia), Sep 13 (EFE).- A group of victims of sexual abuse in New Zealand have written to Pope Francis, feeling “mismanaged” and “helpless by local representatives of the Catholic Church. Re-hurt survivors.

In an email to Efe, Christopher Longhurst, spokesman for Victims of New Zealand, indicated on Monday that the Catholic Church in New Zealand was acting indifferently and “without compassion”.

The letter, signed by the New Zealand-based group of Survivors of Abuse, was sent to the Vatican on September 2 and has not yet received a response.

The controversy comes amid an inquiry into misconduct and scandals within the Catholic Church, which last February admitted it had received 1,680 complaints of sexual abuse, half of which were sexual in nature, affecting 14% of priests. Catholics in New Zealand since 1950.

The church apologized and launched its own investigation into the abuses, following one of the authorities, but victims, represented by SNAP, an international consortium, have criticized the handling of the cases.

The letter to Pope Francis directs his criticism at the office created by the church to handle complaints of abuse, condemning it as not conforming to its own policies and procedures.

“Survivors are not only being denied compassionate and fair treatment, but they have been re-traumatized by an office set up to provide a path to reconciliation,” said a letter signed by New Zealand SNAP president Longhurst, Efe has accessed. .

“We ask His Holiness to intervene because there is no real and honest path to reconciliation in the New Zealand Catholic Church,” the victims ask.

Longhurst told Efe that they previously wrote to the New Zealand Episcopal Conference, but their complaints were ignored.

He confirmed that church officials did not properly counsel victims or attempt to gather evidence on complaints, and that a member of a religious congregation refused to appear before the police with the church’s consent. Past tense to cooperate with authorities.

According to a report published in 2020, between 1950 and 1999 more than 250,000 New Zealand minors and adults were allegedly abused while in the care of public, community and religious institutions. EFE

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